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BALLOON  FRAME  FOR  SIDING  ROUGH  CAST  ON  BRICK-CLAD. 


LIGHT  AND  HEAVY 

TIMBER  FRAMING 

MADE  EASY 


Balloon  Framing,  Mixed  Framing,  Heavy 
Timber  Framing,  Houses,  Factories,  Bridges, 
Barns,  Rinks,  Timber-roofs,  and  all  other 
kinds  of  Timber  Buildings  :  :  :  : 


Being-  a  copious  treatise  on  the  modern  practical  methods  of 
executing  all  kinds  of  timber  framing,  from  the  simple  scant¬ 
ling  shed  or  lean-to,  to  the  heavy  and  complicated  timber 
bridges,  centers,  needling  and  shoring,  roofing  and  railway 
work,  tank  frames  and  taper  structures  :  :  :  :  : 


BY 

FRED  T.  HODGSON,  F.  A.  I.  C. 

Author  of  The  Steel  Square  and  its  Uses,  Modern  and 
Practical  Carpentry,  Stairbuilding  Made  Easy,  Cements, 
Mortars  and  Stuccos,  and  Many  Other  Technical  Works 


Over  Four  Hundred  and  Fifty  Illustrations  and  Diagrams 


PUBLISHERS 

/ 

Frederick  J.  Drake  &  Co. 

CHICAGO  U.  S.  A. 


Copyright  1909 

BY 

FREDERICK  J.  DRAKE  &  CO. 
Chicago 


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PREFACE 


As  Editor  of  one  of  the  most  popular  building 
journals  in  the  United  States  {“The  National 
Builder"),  I  have  frequently  been  asked  by 
readers  of  that  journal,  “if  there  were  any  books 
recently  published  in  America  devoted  entirely 
to  the  science  of  heavy  and  light  timber  framing?” 
In  every  case  I  have  been  compelled  to  answer 
these  queries  in  the  negative,  but  in  all  cases  I 
made  it  a  point  to  inform  my  correspondents  of 
the  existence  of  such  works  as  ‘  ‘  Bell ’s  Carpenter,  ’  ’ 
published  in  1857,  “Hatfield’s  American  Carpen¬ 
ter,”  published  in  1880,  and  of  the  excellent  work 
published  in  England  under  the  authorship  of 
Prof.  Tredgold,  and  I  also  advised  them  of  the 
current  articles  that  were  running  through  the 
pages  of  “ Carpentry  and  Building,”  “Architec¬ 
ture  and  Building,”  “ The  Builder  and  Wood¬ 
workers,”  “The  California  Architect”  and  “The 
National  Builder,”  all  of  which  papers  contained 
a  number  of  excellent  treatises  on  Balloon  Fram¬ 
ing,  and  the  framing  of  heavy  timber ;  and  in  many 
cases,  one  or  the  other  of  these  treatises  sufficed 
to  satisfy  the  requirements  of  the  querist.  Many 
readers,  however,  were  not  satisfied ;  they  wanted 

1 


319542 


2 


PREFACE 


something  more  comprehensive  and  more  compact 
• — something  where  they  would  not  be  compelled  to 
wade  through  volume  after  volume  to  find  the 
material  they  wanted — and  in  order  to  meet  this 
condition  I  have  made  this  present  endeavor  to 
collect  together,  and  put  in  a  handy  form,  most 
of  the  good  and  useful  articles  on  framing  and 
timber  construction  that  would  now  be  difficult 
to  find  by  the  workman  of  the  present  day;  and 
the  work  herewith  presented  to  my  readers  is 
largely  made  up  of  matter  that  has  appeared  in 
some  form  or  other,  in  the  books  mentioned  in 
the  foregoing,  or  in  the  journals  named,  all  of 
which  have  been  thoroughly  overhauled  and  put 
in  such  an  up-to-date  shape,  as  will  suit  the  re¬ 
quirements  of  present  day  conditions. 

“Is  heavy  timber  framing  a  lost  art  ? ’ ’  is  a  ques¬ 
tion  that  has  been  asked  dozens  of  times  during 
these  few  years  by  hundreds  of  young  workmen — 
and  old  workmen,  too — in  the  South  and  West,  and 
particularly  in  the  Pacific  Coast  States,  and  North¬ 
west  Canada.  The  art  of  heavy  timber  framing 
is  not  lost  by  any  means,  for  there  yet  remains 
in  some  of  the  New  England  States,  and  in  New 
York,  Pennsylvania,  Michigan,  Wisconsin  and 
manv  other  of  the  Western,  Southern,  and  Middle 
States,  hundreds  of  old  framers  who  are  capable 
of  taking  the  timber  from  the  stump,  hewing, 
counter-hewing,  and  framing  it  into  bridges, 
trestle-work,  mills,  factories,  barns  and  houses,  or 


PREFACE 


3 


into  any  other  structure  that  may  be  required.  If 
there  was  a  demand  for  such  skilled  workmen,  I 
feel  asured  the  men  would  soon  be  on  hand — pro¬ 
viding  of  course  a  suitable  compensation  was  of¬ 
fered  for  their  services. 

In  the  larger  towns  and  cities,  the  introduction 
of  steel  structural  work  has  in  a  great  measure 
superseded  the  use  of  heavy  timber  work  in  build¬ 
ings  of  any  pretensions.  Floors,  roofs,  bridges, 
trusses,  and  all  such  similar  work,  are  now  made  of 
steel,  thus  displacing  timber.  Without  entering 
into  a  discussion  on  the  merits  of  steel,  or  claiming 
for  it  any  superiority  over  our  old  timber  friends, 
it  is  easy  to  see  that  steel  structural  work  has  come 
to  stay,  and  though  it  may  be  many  a  long  year 
before  its  free  use  will  make  much  headway  in 
localities  where  timber  is  cheap  and  plentiful,  it 
will  in  the  end  crowd  out  the  extensive  use  of 
timber  for  structural  purposes. 

While  the  main  object  of  this  book  is  to  give 
instruction  in  framing,  it  will  also  be  within  its 
purview  to  illustrate  and  describe  designs  in  tim¬ 
ber-work  of  all  kinds,  including  roofs,  domes, 
framed  walls,  bridges,  towers,  centers,  spires,  and 
other  similar  work,  and  in  order  to  be  able  to  deal 
with  these  works  in  an  intelligent  and  efficient 
manner,  I  think  it  wise  to  give,  as  an  introductory 
chapter,  a  short  treatise  on  joints  in  woodwork, 
with  an  explanation  of  their  uses  and  qualifica¬ 
tions  for  the  work  for  which  they  are  intended.  In 


4 


PREFACE 


doing  this  I  cannot  do  better  than  follow  Henry 
Adams,  C.  E.,  who  years  ago  gathered  together 
nearly  all  the  joints  known  and  published  them  in 
one  paper  along  with  descriptions  of  same,  most 
of  which  I  embody  in  the  present  work.  The  illus¬ 
trations  showing  these  joints  are  taken  from  the 
older  works  of  Batty  Langley,  Paine,  Moxen, 
Nicholson,  Tredgold,  Barlowe,  Robert  Burn  Scott, 
Hatfield  and  others,  where  they  were  scattered 
among  other  illustrations  of  various  kinds  of 
woodwork. 

These  joints,  as  illustrated  in  this  work,  are 
applicable  to  either  balloon  or  scantling  framing 
or  to  the  framing  of  heavy  timber,  and  for  almost 
any  kind,  style,  or  shape  of  work,  so  that  the  work¬ 
man  will  find,  in  some  one  of  the  examples  shown, 
something  suitable  for  the  work  in  hand. 

The  examples  of  balloon  framing  shown  are  of 
the  latest  and  most  approved  designs,  such  as  ex¬ 
perience  has  proven  to  be  the  best  for  the  purposes 
to  which  they  are  applied,  and  I  am  sure  those  of 
my  readers  who  have  not  had  a  training  in  balloon 
framing,  will  have  but  little  difficulty  in  following 
them  in  actual  work,  and  the  older  hands  who  have 
worked  for  years  on  balloon  work  will  also  find 
many  things  in  this  book  that  will  be  of  advantage 
to  them  in  many  ways. 

With  regard  to  heavy  timber  framing  I  have 
endeavored  to  follow  the  best  known  methods,  to 
which  I  have  added  something  gained  by  an  ex- 


PREFACE 


5 


perience  of  over  thirty  years  in  the  designing, 
superintendence,  and  building  of  heavy  structures 
in  wood,  both  in  Canada  and  the  United  States. 
Forty  years  ago,  when  timber  framing  was  in 
“flower”  and  grain  elevators  were  built  of  tim¬ 
ber,  I  had  considerable  experience  in  that  line,  and 
in  other  railway  structures  and  similar  work,  and 
have  ever  since,  in  connection  with  my  business, 
been  kept  in  touch  with  timber  framing  of  more 
or  less  magnitude,  and  this  experience,  along  with 
the  book  knowledge  I  have  gathered  together,  leads 
me  to  think  I  can  place  before  my  readers  the  sub¬ 
jects  under  consideration  in  a  clearer  and  better 
light,  than  they  have  ever  before  been  rendered. 
At  any  rate,  I  venture  to  launch  this  little  book 
on  the  same  sea  of  public  opinion  that  has  always 
received  my  books  heretofore  in  an  apprecia¬ 
tive  spirit,  and  if  it  meets  with  the  same  favor  as 
my  other  writings  and  compilations,  neither  my¬ 
self  nor  my  publishers  will  have  any  cause  for 
complaint. 

Fred  T.  Hodgson,  F.  A.  I.  C. 

Collingwood,  Ontario , 


i 


INTRODUCTORY 


JOINTS  IN  WOODWORK  FRAMING. 

The  joints  shown  in  the  following  illustrations 
are  such  as  are  mostly  employed  in  framed  wood¬ 
work,  and  although  they  do  not  cover  the  whole 
ground,  or  show  all  the  styles  and  methods  of 
framing  known  to  the  expert  workman,  they  in¬ 
clude  nearly  all  of  the  principal  joints  in  general 
use,  both  in  light  and  heavy  framing;  later  on  I 
may  show  other  joints  and  splices  that  are  not 
included  in  the  figures  shown  in  this  portion  of 
the  work. 

The  introduction  of  steel  in  the  construction 
of  buildings  has  in  a  great  measure  displaced 
woodwork  in  the  erection  of  large  buildings  in 
towns  and  cities,  yet  timber  working  is  still  of 
sufficient  importance  to  warrant  a  careful  study 
of  the  properties  of  wood  and  its  uses,  lienee  the 
following  descriptions  of  various  woods  are  of¬ 
fered  in  order  that  the  worker  may  have  a  more 
or  less  intelligent  idea  of  the  nature  of  the  mate¬ 
rials  he  is  manipulating. 

This  short  treatise  it  is  hoped  will  be  found 
useful,  interesting  and  instructive  to  the  reader, 
and  while  it  is  not  intended  to  be  exhaustive,  it 

7 


8 


INTRODUCTORY 


♦ 


may  be  depended  upon  to  be  reliable  as  far  as  it 
goes. 

All  trees  are  divided  by  botanists  into  three 
classes;  Exogens,  or  outward-growers;  Endogens, 
or  inward-growers ;  and  Eerogens,  or  summit 
growers — according  to  the  relative  position  in 
which  the  new  material  for  increasing  the  sub¬ 
stance  of  the  tree  is  added ;  viz.,  whether  towards 
the  outside,  the  inside  or  the  top.  Typical  trees 
of  each  class  would  be  the  oak,  the  palm,  and  the 
tree  fern.  We  have  to  deal  with  the  exogenous 
class  only,  as  that  furnishes  the  timber  in  general 
use  for  construction,  the  term  “timber”  including 
all  varieties  of  wood  which,  when  felled  and 
seasoned,  are  suitable  for  building  purposes. 

If  the  stem  of  an  exogenous  tree  be  cut  across, 
it  will  be  found  to  exhibit  a  number  of  nearly  con¬ 
centric  rings,  more  or  less  distinct;  and,  in  certain 
cases,  radial  lines  intersecting  them.  These  rings 
represent  the  annual  growth  of  the  tree  which 
takes  place  just  under  the  bark.  Each  ring  con¬ 
sists  of  bundles  of  woody  fibre  or  vascular  tissue, 
in  the  form  of  long  tapering  tubes,  interlaced  and 
breaking  joint  with  each  other,  having  a  small 
portion  of  cellular  tissue  at  intervals.  Towards 
the  outer  edge  of  each  ring  the  woody  fibre  is 
harder,  more  compact,  and  of  a  darker  color  than 
the  remaining  portion.  The  radial  lines  consist  of 
thin,  hard,  vertical  plates  formed  entirely  of  cellu¬ 
lar  tissue,  known  to  botanists  as  “Medullary 


JOINTS  IN  WOODWORK  FRAMING 


9 


rays”  and  to  carpenters  as  “silver  grain.”  Fig. 
1  shows  the  woody  fibre  as  seen  in  a  magnified 
vertical  section,  Fig.  2  the  cellular  tissue  and  Fig. 
3  a  typical  section  of  the  stem  of  a  young  tree,  a 
being  the  woody  fibre,  b  the  pith,  c  the  medullary 
rays,  and  d  the  bark;  the  three  latter  consisting 


Fig.  1.  Fig.  2. 


of  cellular  tissue  and  enclosing  the  woody  fibre  in 
wedge-shaped  portions.  As  the  tree  advances  in 
age,  the  rings  and  rays  become  more  irregular,  the 
growth  being  more  vigorous  on  the  sunny  side, 
causing  distortion.  The  strength  of  wood  “along 
the  grain”  depends  on  the  tenacity  of  the  walls 


10 


INTRODUCTORY 


of  the  fibres  and  cells,  while  the  strength  “across 
the  grain”  depends  on  the  adhesion  of  the  sides 
of  the  tubes  and  cells  to  each  other. 

Tredgold  proposed  a  classification  of  timber 
according  to  its  mechanical  structure,  this,  as 
modified  by  Professor  Rankine  which  is  given  in 
the  following  table,  also  by  Trantwine  and  others. 

Class  I.  Pine-wood  (coniferous  trees) — pine, 
fir,  larch,  cowrie,  yew,  cedar,  etc. 


Fig.  3. 


Class  II.  Leaf-wood  (non-coniferous  trees), 
Division  I  with  distinct  large  medullary  ravs. 

Sub-division  I.  Annual  rings  distinct — oak. 

Sub-division  II.  Annual  rings  indistinct,  beech, 
birch,  maple,  sycamore,  etc. 

Division  II.  No  distinct  large  medullary  rays. 

Sub-division  I.  Annual  rings  distinct — chest¬ 
nut,  ash,  elm,  etc. 

Sub-division  II.  Annual  rings  indistinct — ma¬ 
hogany,  teak,  walnut,  box,  etc. 

Knowing  now  the  microscopical  structure  of 
the  wood,  we  are  in  a  position  to  understand  the 


JOINTS  IN  WOODWORK  FRAMING 


11 


process  of  seasoning,  and  the  shrinking  incidental 
to  that  operation.  While  wood  is  in  a  growing 
state  there  is  a  constant  passage  of  sap,  or  nutri¬ 
tive  fluid,  which  keeps  the  whole  of  the  interior  of 
the  tree  moist  and  the  fibres  distended,  but  more 
especially  towards  the  outside.  When  the  tree  is 
cut  down,  and  exposed  to  the  air,  the  moisture 
gradually  evaporates,  causing  the  fibres  to  shrink 
according  to  certain  laws ;  this  is  the  natural  pro¬ 
cess  of  seasoning.  There  are  various  methods  of 
seasoning  timber  artificially,  in  each  case  the  ob¬ 
ject  in  view  is  to  expedite  the  process  of  evapora¬ 
tion.  The  shrinkage  in  length  is  very  slight,  and 
need  not  therefore  be  considered;  but  the  shrink¬ 
age  transversely  is  so  great  that  it  is  necessary 
to  look  closely  into  the  nature  of  it,  as  the  ques¬ 
tion  of  jointing  is  affected  considerably  thereby. 

If  Fig.  4  be  taken  as  representing  the  section 
of  a  newly  felled  tree,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  wood 
is  solid  throughout,  and  on  comparing  Fig.  5  with 
this  the  result  of  the  seasoning  will  be  apparent. 
The  action  is  exaggerated  in  the  diagrams  in  order 
to  render  it  more  conspicuous.  As  the  moisture 
evaporates,  the  bundles  of  woody  fibre  shrink  and 
draw  closer  together;  but  this  contraction  cannot 
take  place  radially,  without  crushing  or  tearing 
the  hard  plates  forming  the  medullary  rays,  which 
are  unaffected  in  size  by  the  seasoning.  These 
plates  are  generally  sufficiently  strong  to  resist 
the  crushing  action,  and  the  contraction  is  there- 


12 


INTRODUCTORY 


fore  compelled  to  take  place  in  the  opposite  direc¬ 
tion,  i.  e.  circumferentially,  the  strain  finding  relief 
by  splitting  the  timber  in  radial  lines,  allowing 
the  medullary  rays  in  each  partially  severed  por¬ 
tion  to  approach  each  other  in  the  same  direction 


Fig.  4. 


as  the  ribs  of  a  lady’s  fan  when  closing.  The  illus¬ 
tration  of  a  closing  fan  affords  the  best  example 
of  the  principle  of  shrinking  during  seasoning, 
every  portion  of  the  wood  practically  retaining 


its  original  distance  from  the  center.  If  the  tree 
were  sawn  down  the  middle,  the  cut  surfaces,  al¬ 
though  flat  at  first,  would  in  time  become  rounded, 
as  in  Fig.  6,  the  outer  portion  shrinking  more  than 
that  nearer  the  heart  on  account  of  the  greater 


JOINTS  IN  WOODWORK  FRAMING 


13 


mass  of  woody  fibre  it  contains  and  the  larger 
amount  of  moisture.  If  cut  into  quarters  each  por¬ 
tion  would  present  a  similar  result,  as  shown  in 
Fig.  7.  Figs.  8  to  12  show  the  same  principle  ap- 


Fig.  12.  Fig.  13. 


plied  to  sawn  timber  of  various  forms,  the  peculi¬ 
arities  of  which  are  perhaps  indicated  more  clearly 
in  Fig.  14.  If  we  assume  the  tree  to  be  cut  into 
planks,  as  shown  in  Fig.  13,  it  will  be  found,  after 


14 


INTRODUCTORY 


allowing  due  time  for  seasoning,  that  the  planks 
have  altered  their  shape,  as  in  Fig.  14.  Taking  the 
center  plank  first,  it  will  be  observed  that  the  thick¬ 
ness  at  the  middle  remains  unaltered,  at  the  edge  it 
is  reduced,  and  both  sides  are  rounded,  while  the 


Fig.  15. 


width  remains  unaltered.  The  planks  on  each  side 
of  this  are  rounding  on  the  heart  side,  hollow  on 
the  other,  retain  their  middle  thickness,  but  are  re¬ 
duced  in  width  in  proportion  to  their  distance 


from  the  center  of  the  tree;  or,  in  other  words, 
the  more  nearly  the  annual  rings  are  parallel  to 
the  sides  of  the  planks  the  greater  will  be  the 
reduction  in  width.  The  most  striking  result  of 
the  shrinkage  is  shown  in  Figs.  15-17.  Fig.  15 


JOINTS  IN  WOODWORK  FRAMING 


15 


shows  a  piece  of  quartering  freshly  cut  from  un¬ 
seasoned  timber ;  in  Fig.  1C  the  part  colored  black 
shows  the  portion  lost  by  shrinkage,  and  Fig.  17 
shows  the  final  result.  These  remarks  apply  more 
especially  to  oak,  beech  and  the  stronger  firs.  In 
the  softer  woods  the  medullary  rays  are  more 
yielding,  and  this  slightly  modifies  the  result;  but 
the  same  principles  must  be  borne  in  mind  if  we 
wish  to  avoid  the  evils  of  shrinking  which  may 
occur  from  negligence  in  this  respect. 

The  peculiar  direction  which  “shakes,”  or 
natural  fractures,  sometimes  take  is  due  to  the 
unequal  adhesion  of  the  woody  fibres,  the  weakest 
part  yielding  first.  In  a  “cup  shake,”  which  is 
the  separation  of  a  portion  of  two  annual  rings, 
the  medullary  rays  are  deficient  in  cohesion.  This 
same  fault  sometimes  occurs  in  white  pine  and 
has  been  attributed  to  the  action  of  lightning  and 
of  severe  frosts.  So  far  we  have  considered  the 
shrinking  only  as  regards  the  cross  section  of 
various  pieces.  Turning  now  to  the  effect  pro¬ 
duced  when  we  look  at  the  timber  in  the  other 
direction,  Fig.  18  represents  a  piece  of  timber 
with  the  end  cut  off  square ;  as  this  shrinks,  the 
end  remains  square,  the  width  alone  being  affected. 
If,  however,  the  end  be  bevelled  as  in  Fig.  19  we 
shall  find  that  in  shrinking  it  assumes  a  more 
acute  angle,  and  this  should  be  remembered  in 
framing  roofs,  arranging  the  joints  for  struts,  etc., 
especially  by  the  carpenters  who  have  to  do  actual 


16 


INTRODUCTORY 


work  of  fitting  the  parts.  If  the  angle  be  an  in¬ 
ternal  one  or  bird’s  mouth,  it  will  in  the  same  way 
become  more  acute  in  seasoning.  The  transverse 
shrinkage  is  here  considered  to  the  exclusion  of 
any  slight  longitudinal  alteration  which  might 
occur,  and  which  would  never  be  sufficient  to  affect 
the  angle  of  the  bevel.  When  seasoned  timber  is 
used  in  position  subject  to  damp,  the  wood  will 
swell  in  exactly  the  reverse  direction  to  the  shrink¬ 
age,  and  induce  similar  difficulties  unless  this 
point  has  also  received  due  attention.  Of  course 
it  will  be  seen  from  a  study  of  the  cross  sections 


Fig.  18. 


illustrated  in  the  diagrams  that  the  pieces  might 
be  selected  in  such  a  way  that  the  shrinkage  and 
expansion  would  take  place  chiefly  in  the  thick¬ 
ness  instead  of  the  width,  and  thus  leave  the  bevel 
unaltered.  In  this  consists  the  chief  art  of  select¬ 
ing  pieces  for  framing;  but  in  many  instances 
motives  of  economy  unfortunately  favor  the  use 
of  pieces  on  stock,  without  reference  to  their  suita¬ 
bility  for  the  purpose  required. 

We  may  now  leave  the  question  of  shrinkage, 
and  proceed  to  a  consideration  of  the  more  im¬ 
mediate  intention  of  the  book.  In  the  following 


JOINTS  IN  WOODWORK  FRAMING 


17 


table,  which  shows  the  English  method  of  classifi¬ 
cation,  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  place  timber 
under  the  different  terms  by  which  it  is  known, 
according  to  its  size,  and  other  accidental  char¬ 
acteristics.  This  is  only  a  rough  approximation, 
as  no  definite  rule  can  be  laid  down ;  but  it  may  be 
of  some  assistance  to  those  who’  have  occasionally 
to  deal  with  workmen  using  the  terms. 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  TIMBER  ACCORDING 

TO  SIZE 
(Approximate) 


Baulk . 

. . .  12" 

X 

12"  to 

18" 

X 

18" 

Whole  Timber . 

...  9 

X 

9  to 

15 

X 

15 

Half  Timber . 

...  9 

X 

4}  to 

18 

X 

9 

Scantling . 

...  6 

X 

4  to 

12 

X 

12 

Quartering . 

...  2 

X 

2  to 

6 

X 

6 

Planks . 

..  .  11 

to 

18  x 

3 

to 

6 

Joists  . . . 

....  2 

to 

4! 

Battens . 

...  4i 

to 

7  x 

3 

4 

to 

3 

Strips  and  Laths . .  . . 

...  2 

to 

4 i  x 

JL 

2 

to 

H 

Pieces  larger  than  planks  are  generally  called 
timber,  but  when  sawn  all  round,  are  called  scant- 


18 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


ling,  and  when  sawn  to  equal  dimensions  each  way, 
are  called  die-square.  The  dimensions  (width  and 
thickness)  of  parts  in  a  framing  are  sometimes 
called  the  scantlings  of  the  pieces.  The  term  “cut 
stuff”  is  also  used  to  distinguish  wood  in  the  state 
ready  for  the  joiner,  from  “timber”  which  is  wood 
prepared  for  the  use  of  the  carpenter.  A  “log” 
or  “stick”  is  a  rough  whole  timber  unsawn. 

The  use  of  wood  may  be  discussed  under  the  two 
heads  of  carpentry  and  joinery.  -  The  former  con- 


Fig.  19. 


sists  principally  of  the  use  of  large  timbers,  either 
rough,  adzed,  or  sawn,  and  the  latter  of  smaller 
pieces,  always  sawn,  and  with  the  exposed  surfaces 
planed.  The  carpenters’  work  is  chiefly  outdoor; 
it  embraces  such  objects  as  building  timber 
bridges  and  gantries,  framing  roofs  and  floors, 
constructing  centering,  and  other  heavy  or  rough 
work.  Joiners’  work  is  mostly  indoor;  it  includes 
laying  flooring,  making  and  fixing  doors,  window 
sashes,  frames,  linings,  partitions,  and  internal 
fittings  generally.  In  all  cases  the  proper  con¬ 
nection  of  the  parts  is  an  essential  element,  and 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  TIMBER 


19 


in  designing  or  executing  joints  and  fastenings  in 
woodwork,  the  following  principles,  laid  down  by 
Professor  Tredgold  should  be  adhered  to  viz. : — 

1st.  To  cut  the  joints  and  arrange  the  fastenings 
so  as  to  weaken  the  pieces  of  timber  that  they  con¬ 
nect  as  little  as  possible. 

2nd.  To  place  each  abutting  surface  in  a  joint 
as  nearly  as  possible  perpendicular  to  the  pres¬ 
sure  which  it  has  to  transmit. 

3rd.  To  proportion  the  area  of  each  surface  to 
the  pressure  which  it  has  to  bear,  so  that  the  tim¬ 
ber  may  be  safe  against  injury  under  the  heaviest 
load  which  occurs  in  practice  and  to  form  and  fit 
every  pair  of  such  surfaces  accurately  in  order  to 
distribute  the  stress  uniformly. 

4tli.  To  proportion  the  fastenings  so  that  they 
may  be  of  equal  strength  with  the  pieces  which 
they  connect. 

5th.  To  place  the  fastenings  in  each  piece  of  tim¬ 
ber  so  that  there  shall  be  sufficient  resistance  to 
the  giving  way  of  the  joint  by  the  fastenings  shear¬ 
ing  or  crushing  their  way  through  the  timber. 

To  these  may  be  added  a  6th  principle  not  less 
important  than  the  foregoing,  viz.,  To  select  the 
simplest  forms  of  joints,  and  to  obtain  the  small¬ 
est  possible  number  of  abutments.  The  reason  for 
this  is  that  the  more  complicated  the  joint,  or  the 
greater  the  number  of  bearing  surfaces,  the  less 
probability  there  will  be  of  getting  a  sound  and 
cheaply  made  connection.  To  insure  a  fair  and 


20 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


equal  bearing  in  a  joint  which  is  not  quite  true,  it 
is  usual,  after  the  pieces  are  put  together,  to  run 
a  saw  cut  between  each  hearing  surface  or  abut¬ 
ment,  the  kerf  or  width  of  cut  being  equal  in  each 
case,  the  bearing  is  then  rendered  true.  This  is 
often  done,  for  instance,  with  the  shoulders  of  a 
tenon  or  the  butting  ends  of  a  scarf,  when  careless 
workmanship  has  rendered  it  necessary.  When 
the  visible  junction  of  two  pieces  is  required  to  be 


Fig.  20. 


as  close  as  possible,  and  no  great  strain  has  to  be 
met  at  the  joint,  it  is  usual  to  slightly  undercut 
the  parts,  and  give  clearance  on  the  inside,  as  in 
Fig.  20,  which  shows  an  enlarged  view  of  a  tongued 
and  rebated  heading  joint  in  flooring.  In  pattern¬ 
making  the  fillets  which  are  placed  at  the  internal 
angle  of  two  meeting  surfaces,  are  made  obtuse 
angled  on  the  back,  in  order  that  when  bradded 
into  place  the  sharp  edges  may  lie  close,  as  shown 
in  Fig.  21.  The  prints  used  by  pattern-makers  for 
indicating  the  position  of  round  cored  holes  are 
also  undercut  by  being  turned  slightly  hollow  on 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  TIMBER 


21 


the  bottom,  as  shown  in  Fig.  22.  The  principle 
is  adopted  in  nearly  all  cases  where  a  close  joint 
is  a  desideratum.  Clearance  must  also  be  left  in 
joints  of  framing  when  a  settlement  is  likely  to 
take  place,  in  order  that  after  the  settlement,  the 
abutting  surfaces  may  take  a  fair  bearing  to  resist 
the  strain. 


The  various  strains  that  can  come  upon  any 
member  of  a  structure  are : 

Tension:  Stretching  or  pulling, 

Compression:  Crushing  or  pushing, 

Transverse  Strain :  Cross  strain  or  bending, 
Torsion :  Twisting  or  wrenching, 

Shearing:  Cutting. 

But  in  woodwork,  when  the  latter  force  acts 
along  the  grain,  it  is  generally  called  “detrusion,” 
the  term  shearing  being  limited  to  the  action 
across  the  grain.  The  first  three  varieties  are  the 
strains  which  usually  come  upon  ties,  struts,  and 
beams  respectively.  The  transverse  strain,  it 
must  be  observed,  is  resolvable  into  tension  and 
compression,  the  former  occurring  on  the  convex 
side  of  a  loaded  beam,  and  the  latter  on  the  con¬ 
cave  side,  the  two  being  separated  by  the  neutral 


22 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


axis  or  line  of  no  strain.  The  shearing  strain  oc¬ 
curs  principally  in  beams  and  is  greatest  at  the 
point  of  support,  the  tendency  being  to  cut  the 
timber  through  at  right  angles  to  the  grain;  but 
in  nearly  all  cases  if  the  timber  is  strong  enough 
to  resist  the  transverse  strain  it  is  amply  strong 
for  any  possible  shearing  strain  which  can  occur. 
Keys  and  other  fastenings  are  especially  subject 
to  shearing  strain,  and  it  will  be  shown  in  that 
portion  of  our  subject  that  there  are  certain  pre¬ 
cautions  to  be  adopted  to  obtain  the  best  results. 

The  following  tables  will  serve  as  an  introduc¬ 
tion  to  this  portion  of  the  subject : 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  JOINTS  IN  CARPENTRY. 

•Joints  for  lengthening  ties,  struts  and  beams; 
lapping,  fishing,  scarfing,  tabling,  building  up. 

Bearing-joints  for  beams;  halving,  notching, 
cogging,  dovetailing,  tusk-tenoning,  housing,  chase- 
mortising.  , 

Joints  for  posts  and  beams;  tenon,  joggle,  bri¬ 
dle,  housing. 

Joints  for  struts  with  ties  and  posts;  oblique 
tenon,  bridle,  toe-joint. 

Miscellaneous ;  butting,  mitering,  rebating. 


I 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  FASTENINGS  IN 

CARPENTRY. 


Wedges, 

Keys, 

Pins, 

Wood  pins, 


Nails,  spikes, 

Pins,  screws,  bolts, 
Straps,  stirrups,  etc., 
Sockets, 


And  for  joinery  must  be  added  glue. 


We  will  consider  these  joints  in  the  order  given 
above.  One  of  the  first  requirements  in  the  use 
of  timber  for  engineering  purposes  is  the  con¬ 
nection  of  two  or  more  beams  to  obtain  a  greater 


_ gx _ ^ 


r_ 

ronn 

1 

1  — 

Ell 

i 

J - 

"  HUilfi  ■— 

vV 

L - 

Fig.  23. 


length.  Fig.  23  shows  the  method  of  lengthening 
a  beam  by  lapping  another  to  it,  the  two  being 
held  together  by  straps  and  prevented  from  slid¬ 
ing  by  the  insertion  of  keys.  Fig.  24  shows  a 
similar  joint,  through-bolts  being  used  instead  of 
straps,  and  wrought-iron  plates  instead  of  oak 
keys.  This  makes  a  neater  joint  than  the  former, 
but  they  are  both  unsightly  and  whenever  adopted 

23 


24 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


the  beams  should  be  arranged  in  three  or  five 
pieces  in  order  that  the  supports  at  each  end  may 
be  level  and  the  beams  horizontal.  This  joint  is 
more  suitable  for  a  cross  strain  than  for  tension 
and  compression.  Fig.  25  shows  the  common  form 


Fig.  24. 


of  a  finished  beam  adapted  for  compression.  If 
required  to  resist  tensile  strain,  keys  should  be 
inserted  in  the  top  and  bottom  joints  between  the 
bolts.  Fig.  26  shows  a  fished  joint  adapted  for  a 
cross  strain,  the  whole  sectional  area  of  the  orig- 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  FASTENINGS 


25 


inal  beam  taking  the  compressive  portion  of  the 
cross  strain,  and  the  fishing  piece  taking  the  tensile 
portion.  Fig.  27  shows  a  fished  beam  for  the  same 
purpose  in  which  a  wrought-iron  plate  turned  up 
at  the  ends  takes  the  tensile  strain.  Tabling  con¬ 
sists  of  bedding  portions  of  one  beam  into  the 
other  longitudinally.  Occasionally  the  fishing 
pieces  are  tabled  at  the  ends  into  the  beams  to  re¬ 
sist  the  tendency  to  slip  under  strain,  but  this  office 
is  better  performed  by  keys,  and  in  practice  tabling 
is  not  much  used.  The  distinction  between  fished 
beams  and  scarfed  beams  is  that  in  the  former 


the  original  length  is  not  reduced,  the  pieces  being 
butted  against  each  other,  while  in  the  latter  the 
beams  themselves  are  cut  in  a  special  manner  and 
lapped  partly  over  each  other ;  in  both  cases  addi¬ 
tional  pieces  of  wood  or  iron  are  attached  to 
strengthen  the  joint.  Fig.  28  shows  a  form  of 
scarf  adapted  to  short  posts.  Here  the  scarf  is 
cut  square  and  parallel  to  the  sides,  so  that  the 
full  sectional  area  is  utilized  for  resisting  the 
compressive  strain.  When  the  post  is  longer  and 
liable  to  a  bending  strain  the  scarf  should  be  in¬ 
clined,  as  in  Fig.  29,  to  allow  of  greater  thickness 
being  retained  at  the  shoulder  of  each  piece,  the 


26 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


shoulder  being  kept  square.  In  this  joint  a  con¬ 
siderable  strain  may  be  thrown  on  the  bolts  from 
the  sliding  tendency  of  the  scarf,  if  the  shoulders 
should  happen  to  be  badly  fitted,  as  any  slipping 
would  virtually  increase  the  thickness  of  the  tim¬ 
ber  where  the  bolts  pass  through.  The  width  of 
each  shoulder  should  be  not  less  than  one-fourth 
the  total  thickness.  Joints  in  posts  are  mostly  re- 


r 

/Wvv 

i 

AVW/ 

1 

wv\a/\^ 

_ 

\ 

j> 

—  -  — - - 

ll-== 

t>  \ 

• 

1 

\ 

v 

!>  .  f 

>  t1 

;  i 

i 

EEE! 

} 

1 

|>  j 

L  \_  J 

"  \ 

\ 

\ 

l 

» 

— 

JB> 

* 

) 

u-J 

• 

vA4/^ 

' 

a/V 

i 

i 

Fig.  28.  Fig.  29.  Fig.  30. 


quired  when  it  is  desired  to  lengthen  piles  already 
driven,  to  support  a  superstructure  in  the  manner 
of  columns.  Another  form  of  scarf  for  a  post  put 
together  without  bolts  is  shown  in  Fig.  30,  the 
parts  being  tabled  and  tongued,  and  held  together 
by  wedges.  This  is  not  a  satisfactory  joint,  and  is 
moreover,  expensive  because  of  its  requiring  extra 
care  in  fitting;  but  it  may  be  a  suitable  joint  in 
some  special  cases,  in  which  all  the  sides  are  re- 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  FASTENINGS 


2? 


quired  to  be  flush.  Fig.  31  shows  the  common  form 
of  scarf  in  a  tie-beam.  The  ends  of  the  scarf  are 
bird’s  mouthed,  and  the  joint  is  tightened  up  by 
wedges  driven  from  opposite  sides.  It  is  further 


Fig.  31. 


secured  by  the  wrought-iron  plates  on  the  top  and 
bottom,  which  are  attached  to  the  timber  by  bolts 
and  nuts.  In  all  these  joints  the  friction  between 


J 

■  » 

1  ( 

1  ♦ 

•  i 

•  i 

1; 

— — 

'!  )' 

< 

2  * 

:  i 

!i 

If 

\  r  * 

'  i  * 

<* 

Jl 

,  « 

1 1 

i « 

ct3 - - 

!lri; 

Fig.  32. 


the  surfaces,  due  to  the  bolts  being  tightly  screwed 
up,  plays  an  important  part  in  the  strength  of  the 
joint;  and  as  all  timber  is  liable  to  shrink,  it  is 


Fig.  33. 


necessary  to  examine  the  bolts  occasionally,  and 
to  keep  them  well  tightened  up.  Figs.  32  and  33 
show  good  forms  of  scarfs,  which  are  stronger  but 
not  so  common  as  the  preceding.  Sometimes  the 


28 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


scarf  is  made  vertically  instead  of  horizontally, 
and  when  this  is  done  a  slight  modification  is  made 
in  the  position  of  the  projecting  tongue,  as  will  be 
seen  from  Fig.  34,  which  shows  the  joint  in  ele- 


Fig.  34. 

vation  and  plan.  The  only  other  scarfs  to  which 
attention  need  be  called  are  those  shown  in  Figs. 
35  and  36  in  which  the  compression  side  is  made 


Fig.  36. 


with  a  square  abutment.  These  are  very  strong* 
foimSj  and  at  the  same  time  easily  made.  Many 
othei  foims  have  been  designed,  and  old  books  on 
carpentry  teem  with  scarfs  of  every  conceivable 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  FASTENINGS 


29 


pattern ;  but  in  this,  as  in  many  other  cases,  the 
simplest  thing  is  the  best,  as  the  whole  value  de¬ 
pends  upon  the  accuracy  of  the  workmanship,  and 
this  is  rendered  excessively  difficult  with  a  multi¬ 
plicity  of  parts  or  abutments. 

In  building  up  beams  to  obtain  increased 
strength  the  most  usual  method  is  to  lay  two  to¬ 
gether  sideways  for  short  spans,  as  in  the 
lintels  over  doors  and  windows,  or  to  cut 
one  down  the  middle  and  reverse  the 
halves,  inserting  a  wrought  iron  plate 
between,  as  shown  in  the  flitch -girder, 

Fig.  37.  The  reversal  of  the  halves  gives  no  addi¬ 
tional  strength,  as  many  workmen  suppose,  but  it 
enables  one  to  see  if  the  timber  is  sound  through¬ 
out  to  the  heart,  and  it  also  allows  the  pieces  to 
season  better.  A  beam  uncut  may  be  decayed  in 
the  center,  and  hence  the  advantage  of  cutting  and 
reversing,  even  if  no  flitch-plate  is  to  be  inserted, 
defective  pieces  being  then  discarded.  When  very 
long  and  strong  beams  are  required,  a  simple 
method  is  to  bolt  several  together  so  as  to  break 
joint  with  each  other,  as  shown  in  Fig.  38,  taking 
care  that  on  the  tension  side  the  middle  of  one 
piece  comes  in  the  center  of  the  stand  with  the  two 
nearest  joints  equidistant.  It  is  not  necessary  in 
a  built  beam  to  carry  the  full  depth  as  far  as  the 
supports;  the  strain  is,  of  course,  greatest  in  the 
center,  and  provided  there  is  sufficient  depth  given 
at  that  point,  the  beam  may  be  reduced  towards 


tdr-i 

Fig.  37. 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  FASTENINGS 


31 


the  ends,  allowance  being  made  for  the  loss  of 
strength  at  the  joints  on  tension  side.  A  single 
piece  of  timber  secured  to  the  underside  of  a  beam 
at  the  center,  as  in  Fig.  39  is  a  simple  and  effective 
mode  of  increasing  its  strength.  It  will  be  ob¬ 
served  that  the  straps  are  bedded  into  the  sides  of 
the  beams ;  they  thus  form  keys  to  prevent  the 
pieces  from  slipping  on  each  other.  This  weakens 
the  timber  much  less  than  cutting  out  the  top  or 
bottom,  as  the  strength  of  a  beam  varies  not  only 
in  direct  proportion  to  the  breadth,  but  as  the 
square  of  the  depth.  The  addition  of  a  second  piece 
of  timber  in  the  middle  is  a  method  frequently 
adopted  for  strengthening  shear  legs  and  derrick 
poles  temporarily  for  lifting  heavy  weights. 

We  now  come  to  the  consideration  of  bearing 
joints  for  beams,  the  term  “beam”  being  taken  to 
include  all  pieces  which  carry  or  receive  a  load 
across  the  grain.  The  simplest  of  these  is  the  halv¬ 
ing  joint,  shown  at  Fig.  40,  where  two  pieces  of 
cross  bracing  are  halved  together.  This  joint  is 
also  shown  at  Fig.  41,  where  the  ends  of  two  wall 
plates  meet  each  other.  When  a  joint  occurs  in 
the  length  of  a  beam,  as  at  Fig.  42,  it  is  generally 
called  a  scarf.  In  each  of  these  examples  it  will 
be  seen  that  half  the  thickness  of  each  piece  is  cut 
away  so  as  to  make  the  joint  flush  top  and  bottom. 
Sometimes  the  outer  end  of  the  upper  piece  is 
made  thicker,  forming  a  bevelled  joint  and  acting 
as  a  dovetail  when  loaded  on  top.  This  is  shown 


32 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


at  Figs.  43  and  44.  When  one  beam  crosses  an¬ 
other  at  right  angles,  and  is  cut  on  the  lower  side 
to  fit  upon  it,  the  joint  is  known  as  single  notching, 
shown  in  Fig.  45.  When  both  are  cut,  as  in  Fig. 


46,  it  is  known  as  double  notching.  These  forms 
occur  in  the  bridging  and  ceiling  joists  shown  on 
the  diagrams  of  double  and  double-framed  floor¬ 
ing.  When  a  cog  or  solid  projecting  portion  is 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  FASTENINGS 


33 


left  in  the  lower  piece  at  the  middle  of  the  joint 
it  is  known  as  cogging,  cocking,  or  caulking,  and 
is  shown  in  Fig.  47.  Figs.  48  and  49  show  two 
forms  of  the  joint  occurring  between  a  tie-beam 
and  wall  plate  in  roofing.  Dove-tailing  is  not  much 


Fig.  48. 


used  in  carpentry  or  house-joinery,  owing  to  the 
shrinkage  of  the  wood  loosening  the  joint.  Two 
wall  plates  are  shown  dovetailed  together  at  Figs. 
50  and  51 ;  in  the  latter  a  wedge  is  sometimes  in¬ 


serted  on  the  straight  side  to  enable  the  joint  to 
be  tightened  up  as  the  wood  shrinks.  Tredgold 
proposed  the  form  shown  in  Fig.  52  which  is 
known  as  the  “Tredgold  notch”;  but  this  is  never 
seen  in  practice.  Tusk-tenoning  is  the  method 


34 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


adopted  for  obtaining  a  bearing  for  one  beam 
meeting  another  at  right  angles  at  the  same  level. 
Fig.  53  shows  a  trimmer  supported  on  a  trimming 


Fig.  53. 


Fig.  54. 


joist  in  this  manner;  this  occurs  round  fireplaces, 
hoistways,  and  other  openings  through  floors.  Fig. 
54  shows  the  same  joint  between  a  wood  girder  and 
binding  joist,  it  is  also  seen  in  the  diagram  of 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  FASTENINGS 


35 


double-framed  flooring.  The  advantage  of  this 
form  is  that  a  good  bearing  is  obtained  without 
weakening  the  beam  to  any  very  great  extent,  as 
the  principal  portion  of  the  material  removed  is 
taken  from  the  neutral  axis,  leaving  the  remainder 
disposed  somewhat  after  the  form  of  a  flanged 
girder.  When  a  cross  piece  of  timber  has  to  be 
framed  in  between  two  beams  already  fixed,  a 
tenon  and  chase-mortise  (Fig.  55),  is  one  of  the 


methods  adopted.  If  the  space  is  very  confined, 
the  same  kind  of  mortise  is  made  in  both  beams, 
but  in  opposite  directions;  the  cross  piece  is  then 
held  obliquely,  and  slid  into  place.  Occasionally 
it  is  necessary  to  make  the  chase-mortise  vertical, 
but  this  is  not  to  be  recommended,  as  the  beam  is 
more  weakened  by  so  doing — it  is  shown  in  Fig. 
56.  Ceiling  joists,  fixed  by  tenons  and  chase-mor¬ 
tises,  are  shown  on  the  diagram  of  double  flooring. 


36 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


In  some  cases,  a  square  fillet  is  nailed  on,  as  shown 
in  the  same  diagram,  to  take  the  weight  of  the 
joists  without  cutting  into  the  beam.  "While  speak¬ 
ing  of  floors,  the  process  of  furring-up  may  be  men¬ 
tioned  ;  this  consists  of  laying  thin  pieces,  or  strips, 
of  wood  on  the  top  of  joists,  or  any  surfaces,  to 
bring  them  up  to  a  level.  Furring-pieces  are  also 
sometimes  nailed  underneath  the  large  beams  in 
framed  floors,  so  that  the  under  side  may  be  level 
with  the  bottom  of  the  ceiling  joists,  to  give  a 


Fig.  56. 


bearing  for  the  laths,  and  at  the  same  time  allow 
sufficient  space  for  the  plaster  to  form  a  key. 
Brandering  is  formed  by  strips  about  one  inch 
square,  nailed  to  the  under  side  of  the  ceiling 
joists  at  right  angles  to  them ;  these  strips  help  to 
stiffen  the  ceiling,  and  being  narrower  than  the 
ceiling  joists,  do  not  interrupt  the  key  of  the  plas¬ 
tering  so  much — this  is  al^o  shown  on  the  diagram 
of  double  flooring.  Housing  consists  of  letting 
one  piece  of  wood  bodily  into  another  for  a  short 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  FASTENINGS 


37 


distance,  or,  as  it  were,  a  tenon  the  full  size  of 
the  stuff.  This  is  shown  in  the  diagram  of  stair¬ 
case  details,  where  the  treads  and  risers  are  seen 
housed  into  the  strings,  and  held  by  wedges.  Hous¬ 
ing  is  likewise  adopted  for  fixing  rails  to  posts,  as 
in  Fig.  57,  where  an  arris  rail  is  shown  housed  into 


i 

VMM 


Fig.  57. 


Fig.  59. 


an  oak  post  for  fencing.  The  most  common  joint, 
however,  between  posts  and  beams,  is  the  tenon 
and  mortise  joint,  either  wedged  or  fixed  by  a  pin ; 
the  former  arrangement  is  shown  in  Fig.  58,  and 
the  latter  in  Fig.  59.  The  friction  of  the  wedges, 


38 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


when  tightly  driven,  aided  by  the  adhesion  of  the 
glue  or  white  lead  with  which  they  are  coated, 
forms,  in  effect,  a  solid  dovetail,  and  the  fibres  be¬ 
ing  compressed,  do  not  yield  further  by  the  shrink¬ 
ing  of  the  wood.  In  the  diagram  of  a  framed  door 
will  be  seen  an  example  of  the  application  of  this 
joint  and  in  the  adjacent  diagram  will  be  seen  the 
evils  produced  by  careless  fitting,  or  the  use  of  un¬ 
seasoned  material.  When  it  is  desired  to  tenon  a 
beam  into  a  post,  without  allowing  the  tenon  to 
show  through,  or  where  a  mortise  has  to  be  made 


Fig.  60.  Fig.  61. 


in  an  existing  post  fixed  against  a  wall,  the  dove¬ 
tail  tenon,  shown  in  Fig.  60  is  sometimes  adopted, 
a  wedge  being  driven  in  on  the  straight  side  to 
draw  the  tenon  home  and  keep  it  in  place.  In  join¬ 
ing  small  pieces,  the  foxtail  tenon,  shown  in  Fig. 
61  has  the  same  advantage  as  the  dovetail  tenon, 
of  not  showing  through;  but  it  is  more  difficult 
to  fix.  The  outer  wedges  are  made  the  longest, 
and  in  driving  the  tenon  home,  these  come  into 
action  first,  splitting  away  the  sides,  and  fill¬ 
ing  up  the  dovetail  mortise,  at  the  same  time 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  FASTENINGS 


39 


compressing  the  fibres  of  the  tenon.  This  joint 
requires  no  glue,  as  it  cannot  draw  out;  should 
it  work  loose  at  any  time,  the  only  way  to 
tighten  it  up  would  be  to  insert  a  very  thin  wedge 
in  one  end  of  the  mortise.  Short  tenons,  assisted 
by  strap  bolts,  as  shown  in  Fig.  62  are  commonly 
adopted  in  connecting  large  timbers.  The  post  is 


cut  to  form  a  shoulder  so  that  the  beam  takes  a 
bearing  for  its  full  width,  the  tenon  preventing 
any  side  movement.  When  a  post  rests  on  a  beam 
or  sill  piece,  its  movement  is  prevented  by  a  “jog¬ 
gle,”  or  stub-tenon,  as  shown  in  Fig.  63;  but  too 
much  reliance  should  not  be  placed  on  this  tenon, 
owing  to  the  impossibility  of  seeing,  after  the 
pieces  are  fixed,  whether  it  has  been  properly 


40 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


fitted,  and  it  is  particularly  liable  to  decay  from 
moisture  settling  in  the  joint.  For  temporary  pur¬ 
poses,  posts  are  commonly  secured  to  heads  and 
sills  by  dog-irons,  or  “dogs,”  Fig.  64;  the  pieces 


in  this  case  simply  butt  against  each  other,  the 
object  being  to  avoid  cutting  the  timber,  and  so 
depreciating  its  value,  and  also  for  economy  of 
labor.  Other  forms  of  tenons  are  shown  in  Figs. 
65  and  66.  The  double  tenon  is  used  in  framing 


wide  pieces,  and  the  haunched  tenon  when  the  edge 
of  the  piece  on  which  the  tenon  is  formed  is  re¬ 
quired  to  be  flush  with  the  end  of  the  piece  con¬ 
taining  the  mortise.  Examples  of  both  these  will 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  FASTENINGS 


41 


be  found  in  the  diagram  of  framed  door.  In  Figs. 
67  and  68  are  shown  two  forms  of  bridle  joint  be¬ 
tween  a  post  and  a  beam.  Tredgold  and  Hatfield 
recommended  a  bridle  joint  with  a  circular  abut¬ 


ment,  but  this  is  not  a  correct  form,  as  the  post  is 
then  equivalent  to  a  column  with  rounded  ends, 
which  it  is  well  known  is  unable  in  that  form  to 


bear  so  great  a  load  before  it  commences  to  yield. 
A  strut  meeting  a  tie,  as  in  the  case  of  the  foot  of 
a  principal  rafter  in  a  roof  truss,  is  generally 
tenoned  into  the  tie  by  an  oblique  tenon,  as  shown 
in  Fig.  69;  and  the  joint  is  further  strengthened 


42 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


by  a  toe  on  the  rafter  bearing  against  a  shoulder 
in  the  tie.  Tredgold  strongly  advised  this  joint 
being  made  with  a  bridge  instead  of  a  tenon,  as 
shown  in  Fig.  70,  on  account  of  the  abutting  sur¬ 
faces  being  fully  open  to  view.  A  strut  meeting 
a  post  as  in  Fig.  71,  or  a  strut  meeting  the  princi¬ 
pal  rafter  of  a  roof-truss  (Fig.  72)  is  usually  con¬ 
nected  by  a  simple  toe-joint.  The  shoulder  should 
be  cut  square  with  the  piece  containing  it,  or  it 
should  bisect  the  angle  formed  between  the  two 


pieces.  It  is  sometimes  made  square  with  the  strut, 
but  this  is  incorrect,  as  there  would  in  some  cases 
be  a  possibility  of  the  pieces  lipping  out.  In  bat- 
toned  and  braced  doors  or  gates  this  joint  is  used, 
the  pieces  being  so  arranged  as  to  form  triangles, 
and  so  prevent  the  liability  to  sag  or  drop,  which 
is  so  difficult  to  guard  against  in  square  framed 
work  without  struts  or  braces.  When  a  structure 
is  triangulated,  its  shape  remains  constant  so  long 
as  the  fastenings  are  not  torn  away,  because,  with 
a  given  length  of  sides,  a  triangle  can  assume  only 
one  position;  but  this  is  not  the  case  with  four- 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  FASTENINGS 


43 


sided  framing,  as  the  sides,  while  remaining  con¬ 
stant  in  length  may  vary  in  position.  The  diagram 
of  a  mansard  roof  shows  various  examples  of  a 
toe-joint ;  it  shows  also  the  principal  framing  king¬ 
post  and  queen-post  roof  trusses,  each  portion  be¬ 
ing  triangulated  to  insure  the  utmost  stability. 


Fig.  73. 


*  v  s 

Fig.  75. 


Among  the  miscellaneous  joints  in  carpentry  not 
previously  mentioned  the  most  common  are  the 
butt  joint,  Fig.  73,  where  the  pieces  meet  each  other 
with  square  ends  or  sides ;  the  mitre  joint,  Fig.  74, 
where  the  pieces  abut  against  each  other  with 
bevelled  ends,  bisecting  the  angle  between  them,  as 
in  the  case  of  struts  mitered  to  a  corbel  piece  sup- 


r~P~i 

Fig.  76. 


Fig.  77. 


Fig.  78. 


porting  the  beam  of  a  gantry ;  and  the  rabbeted  or 
“rebated”  joint,  Fig.  75,  which  is  a  kind  of  narrow 
halving,  either  transverse  or  longitudinal.  To 
these  must  be  added  in  joinery  the  grooved  and 
tongued  joint,  Fig.  76,  the  matched  and  beaded 
joint,  Fig.  77,  the  dowelled  joint,  Fig.  78,  the  dove- 


44 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


tailed  joint,  Fig.  79,  and  other  modifications' of 
these  to  suit  special  purposes.  The  application  of 
several  of  these  joints  is  shown  on  the  various  dia¬ 
grams  of  flooring,  etc.  To  one  of  these  it  may  be 
desirable  to  call  particular  attention,  viz.:  the 
flooring  laid  folding.  This  is  a  method  of  obtain¬ 
ing  close  joints  without  the  use  of  a  cramp.  It 
consists  of  nailing  down  two  boards  and  leaving 
a  space  between  them  rather  less  than  the  width 
of,  say  five  boards,  these  boards  are  then  put  in 


place,  and  the  two  projecting  edges  are  forced 
down  by  laying  a  plank  across  them,  and  standing 
on  it.  This  may  generally  be  detected  in  old  floors 
by  observing  that  several  heading  joints  come  in 
one  line,  as  shown  on  the  diagram,  instead  of 
breaking  joint  with  each  other.  It  is  worthy  of 
notice  that  the  tongue,  or  slip  feather,  shown  in 
Fig.  76,  which  in  good  work  is  formed  generally 
of  hard  wood,  is  made  up  of  short  pieces  cut  diag¬ 
onally  across  the  grain  of  the  plank,  in  order  that 
any  movement  of  the  joints  may  not  split  the 
tongue,  which  would  inevitably  occur  if  it  were  cut 
longitudinally  from  the  plank. 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  FASTENINGS 


45 


With  regard  to  fastenings,  the  figures  already 
given  show  several  applications.  Wedges  should 
he  split  or  torn  from  the  log,  so  that  the  grain  may 
be  continuous,  or  if  sawn  out,  a  straight-grained 
piece  should  be  selected.  Sufficient  taper  should 
be  put  on  to  give  enough  compression  to  the  joint, 
but  too  much  taper  would  allow  the  possibility  of 
the  wedge  working  loose.  For  outside  work, 
wedges  should  be  painted  over  with  white  lead  be¬ 
fore  being  driven,  this  not  being  affected  by  mois¬ 
ture,  as  glue  would  be.  In  scarf-joints  the  chief 
use  of  wedges  is  to  draw  the  parts  together  before 
the  bolt-holes  are  bored.  Keys  are  nearly  parallel 
strips  of  hard  wood  or  metal ;  they  are  usually 
made  with  a  slight  draft  to  enable  them  to  fit 
tightly.  If  the  key  is  cut  lengthwise  of  the  grain, 
a  piece  with  curled  or  twisted  grain  should  be  se¬ 
lected,  but  if  this  cannot  be  done,  the  key  should  be 
cut  crossways  of  the  log  from  which  it  is  taken, 
and  inserted  in  the  joint  with  the  grain  at  right 
angles  to  the  direction  of  the  strain,  so  that  the 
shearing  stress  to  which  the  key  is  subject  may  act 
upon  it  across  the  fibres.  In  timber  bridges  and 
other  large  structures  cast  iron  keys  are  fre¬ 
quently  used,  as  there  is  with  them  an  absence  of 
all  difficulty  from  shrinkage.  Wood  pins  should  be 
selected  in  same  way  as  wedges,  from  straight¬ 
grained,  hard  wood.  Square  pins  are  more  efficient 
than  round  pins,  but  are  not  often  used,  on  account 
of  the  difficulty  of  forming  square  holes  for  their 


46 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


reception.  Tenons  are  frequently  secured  in  mor¬ 
tises,  as  in  Fig.  59,  by  pins,  the  pins  being  driven 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  draw  the  tenon  tightly  into 
the  mortise  up  to  its  shoulders,  and  afterwards  to 
hold  it  there.  This  is  done  by  boring  the  hole  first 
through  the  cheeks  of  the  mortise,  then  inserting 
the  tenon,  marking  off  the  position  of  the  hole,  re¬ 
moving  the  tenon,  and  boring  the  pinhole  in  it 
rather  nearer  the  shoulders  than  the  mark,  so  that 
when  the  pin  is  driven  it  will  draw  the  tenon  as 
above  described.  This  method  is  called  “draw- 
boring.”  The  dowelled  floor  shown  in  Fig.  78 
gives  another  example  of  the  use  of  pins. 

Nails,  and  their  uses,  are  too  well  known  to 
need  description;  it  may,  however,  be  well  to  call 
attention  to  the  two  kinds  of  cut  and  wrought  nails, 
the  former  being  sheared  or  stamped  out  of  plates, 
and  the  latter  forged  out  of  rods.  The  cut  nails 
are  cheaper,  but  are  rather  brittle ;  they  are  useful 
in  many  kinds  of  work,  as  they  may  be  driven 
without  previously  boring  holes  to  receive  them, 
being  rather  blunt  pointed  and  having  two  par¬ 
allel  sides,  which  are  placed  in  the  direction  of 
the  grain  of  the  wood.  The  wrought  nails  do  not 
easily  break,  and  are  used  where  it  is  desired  to 
clench  them  on  the  back  to  draw  and  hold  the  wood 
together.  [The  following  table  gives  the  result  of 
some  experiments  on  the  adhesion  of  nails  and 
screws. 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  FASTENINGS 


47 


ADHESION  OF  NAILS. 


Description  of 

Nails  used. 

No.  to 
the  lb. 
Avoir. 

Inches 

long. 

Inches 

forced 

into 

wood. 

Lbs.  Pressure 
to  force  in. 

Lbs.  pressure 
to  extract. 

Dry  pine 
Deal. 

Dry 

Pine 

Deal. 

Dry 

Elm 

Fine  brads . 

4560 

0.44 

.40 

22 

— 

<  < 

8200 

0.53 

.44 

— 

37 

— 

Threepenny  brads. 

618 

1.25 

.50 

— 

58 

— 

Cast-iron  nails . 

380 

1.00 

.25 

—  ■ 

72 

— 

Sixpenny  nails _ 

73 

2.50 

.50 

24 

— 

— 

<  t 

<  i 

<  ( 

.50 

76 

— 

— 

<  < 

<  t 

1 1 

1.00 

235 

187 

327 

1 < 

<  ( 

<  < 

<  ( 

end  grain 

87 

257 

<  ( 

( < 

<  ( 

1.50 

400 

327 

— 

( ( 

<  ( 

C  L 

2.00 

610 

530 

— 

( t 

( ( 

i  i 

( < 

end  grain 

257 

— 

Fivepenny  nails . 

139 

2.00 

1.50 

— 

320 

— 

French  or  wire  nails  have  almost  driven  the 
cut  and  wrought  nails  out  of  the  market.  Wire 
nails,  however,  are  not  as  lasting  as  the  old 
fashioned  ones,  but  they  are  clean,  handy  to  work 
and  can  be  clinched  whenever  necessary.  They 
rust  quickly,  and  should  not  be  used  for  shingling 
or  where  damp  is  likely  to  get  to  them. 


48 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


SUMMARY. 

Across  Grain.  With  Grain. 
Adhesion  of  nails  in  Pine. . .  .2  to  1 

Adhesion  of  nails  in  Elm. . .  .4  to  3 

Entrance  to  extraction  is  as  6  to  5. 

Common  screw  .2"  diam.  equals  3  times  the  ad¬ 
hesive  force  of  a  six-penny  nail. 

Spikes  are  nearly  of  the  same  form  as  nails, 
hut  much  larger  and  are  mostly  used  for  heavy 
timber  work.  Treenails,  so-called,  are  hard  wood 
pins  used  in  the  same  way  as  nails.  In  particular 
work,  with  some  woods,  such  as  Oak,  they  are  used 
to  prevent  the  staining  of  the  wood,  which  would 
occur  if  nails  were  used  and  any  moisture  after- 
wards  reached  them.  Compressed  treenails  are 
largely  used  in  England  for  fixing  railway  chairs 
to  sleepers  as- they  swell  on  exposure  to  moisture, 
and  then  hold  more  firmly.  Screws  are  used  in 
situations  where  the  parts  may  afterwards  re¬ 
quire  to  be  disconnected.  They  are  more  useful 
than  nails,  as  they  not  only  connect  the  parts,  but 
draw  them  closer  together,  and  are  more  secure. 
For  joiner’s  work  the  screws  usually  have  counter¬ 
sunk  heads;  where  it  is  desired  to  conceal  them, 
they  are  let  well  into  the  wood,  and  the  holes 
plugged  with  dowels  of  the  same  kind  of  wood, 
with  the  grain  in  the  same  direction.  For  car¬ 
penters’  work  the  screws  are  larger  and  have  often 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  FASTENINGS 


49 


square  heads;  these  are  known  as  coach-screws. 
The  bolts,  nuts,  and  washers  used  in  carpentry 
may  be  of  the  proportions  given  in  the  following 
table : — an  example  is  shown  in  Fig.  80. 


Thickness  of  nut  . 1  diam.  of  bolt 

Thickness  of  head  . . . diam.  of  bolt 

Diam.  of  head  or  nut  over  sides.  1%  diam.  of  bolt 
Side  of  square  washer  for  fir.  .31/0  diam.  of  bolt 
Side  of  square  washer  for  oak. 2^  diam.  of  bolt 
Thickness  of  washer . y2  diam.  of  bolt 

The  square  nuts  used  by  carpenters  are  gener¬ 
ally  much  too  thin ;  unless  they  are  equal  in  thick¬ 
ness  to  the  diameter  of  the  bolt,  the  full  advantage 
of  that  diameter- cannot  be  obtained,  the  strength 
of  any  connection  being  measured  by  its  weakest 
part.  The  best  proportion  for  nuts  is  shown  in 
the  diagram  of  a  standard  hexagon  nut.  A  large 
square  washer  is  generally  put  under  the  nut  to 
prevent  it  from  sinking  into  the  wood  and  tearing 
the  fibres  while  being  screwed  up,  but  it  is  also 
necessary  to  put  on  a  similar  washer  under  the 
head  to  prevent  sinking  into  the  wood.  This  is, 
however,  often  improperly  omitted.  Straps  are 


50 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


bands  of  wrought-iron  placed  over  a  joint  to 
strengthen  it  and  tie  the  parts  together.  When 
the  strap  is  carried  round  one  piece,  and  both  ends 
secured  to  a  piece  joining  it  at  right  angles,  as  in 
a  king-post  and  tie-beam,  it  is  known  as  a  stirrup, 
and  is  tightened  by  means  of  a  cotter  and  gib-keys 
as  shown  in  Fig.  81.  When  straps  connect  more 


Fig.  81. 


than  two  pieces  of  timber  together,  they  are  made 
with  a  branch  leading  in  the  direction  of  each 
piece ;  but  they  are  usually  not  strong  enough  at 
the  point  of  junction,  and  might  often  be  made 
shorter'  than  they  are  without  impairing  their 
efficiency.  Sockets  are  generally  of  cast-iron,  and 
may  be  described  as  hollow  boxes  formed  to  re- 
ceive  the  ends  of  timber  framing. 

With  regard  to  the  use  of  glue  for  securing 
joints,  it  has  been  found  that  the  tensile  strength 
of  solid  glue  is  about  4,000  lbs.  per  square  inch, 
while  that  of  a  glued  joint  in  damp  weather  is 
from  350  to  360  lbs.  per  square  inch,  and  in  dry 
weather  about  715  lbs.  per  square  inch.  The  lat- 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  FASTENINGS  51 

I 

eral  cohesion  of  pine  wood  is  about  562  lbs.  per 
square  inch,  and  therefore  in  a  good  glue  joint 
the  solid  material  will  give  way  before  the  junction 
yields. 

These  joints,  though  quite  numerous,  do  not 
exhibit  all  that  are  used  in  carpentry  and  joinery, 
but  are  quite  sufficient  for  our  present  purpose,  as 
others  will  be  illustrated  and  described  as  we  pro¬ 
ceed. 

In  balloon  or  scantling  buildings  of  all  kinds, 
good  solid  foundations  should  in  every  case  be  pro¬ 
vided,  for  most  of  the  defects  often  found  in  frame 
buildings  such  as  cracks,  breaks,  sags,  etc.  are  in 
a  great  measure  due  to  the  settlement  of  founda¬ 
tion  walls,  pins,  posts  or  undue  shrinkage.  When 
possible,  all  wood  materials  such  as  studding, 
joists,  rafters,  collar-beams,  trimmers,  sills,  plates, 
braces  and  all  other  timber  or  lumber  used,  should 
be  well  seasoned,  particularly  the  joists,  as  the 
shrinking  of  the  joists  causes  the  partitions  to 
drop  and  this  makes  cracks  in  the  angles  of  the 
walls,  causes  the  doors  to  drag  on  the  floors  or 
to  bind  at  the  top  and  thus  disarrange  the  locks, 
bolts,  catches  or  other  fastenings.  Shrinkage  of 
wall  studs  causes  trouble  around  the  windows  and 
outside  doors,  leaving  openings  for  wind  to  make 
its  way  through  into  the  interior  of  the  house. 
These  things,  though  apparently  of  little  moment, 
are  quite  necessary  to  be  taken  into  consideration 
if  a  good  warm  and  substantial  building  is  de¬ 
sired. 


52 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


We  are  now  ready  to  undertake  some  examples 
of  real  work.  The  first  thing  to  be  considered 
when  preparing  for  a  balloon  frame  after  the  foun¬ 
dation  wall  is  ready  to  put  on  the  frame  work,  is 
the  sill  on  which  the  studding  is  to  stand.  Of  these 
there  are  many  kinds  and  I  propose  to  illustrate 
a  selection  from  which  the  builder  may  choose  the 


Fig.  82. 


one  most  suitable  to  his  purpose.  Fig.  82  is  about 
the  most  simple  of  any  and  is  nothing  more  or  less 
than  a  2x4-inch  scantling  halved  at  the  corner,  and 
may  be  fastened  by  a  wooden  pin  or  nailed  to¬ 
gether  as  shown.  A  sill  of  this  kind  should  be 
laid  in  mortar  and  levelled  up  to  take  the  joists 
and  studding.  The  joists  in  this  case  will  rest  on 
the  sill  altogether,  as  shown  in  Fig.  83  or  they  may 
be  cut  or  “checked”  so  as  to  rest  both  on  stone 
.  wall  and  silk.  Fig.  84  shows  another  method  of 
forming  a  sill  in  the  old  fashioned  way.  This 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  FASTENINGS 


53 


makes  a  good  strong  sill  and  secures  a  warm  con¬ 
nection  between  sill  and  wall.  Another  good  plan 
is  shown  at  Fig.  85.  Figs.  86,  87,  88,  89,  90  and  91 
show  a  number  of  various  methods  of  forming  sills 
all  of  which  are  good.  All  sills  of  this  kind-  should 
be  bedded  in  mortar  and  levelled  up  on  their  top 


flats,  and  when  convenient  the  spaces  between  the 
joists  on  the  wall  should  be  filled  in  with  stone  or 
brick-work  level  with  the  top  of  the  upper  edges  of 
the  joists.  By  doing  this,  the  building  is  made 
more  comfortable,  stronger,  and  vermin  of  all 
kinds  will  be  prevented  from  getting  into  the  build- 


54 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


2X  12 


mm 


Fig.  85. 


i 


pLLLD  WiTH 

StoHe: 


V/^LL 


Fig.  88. 


Fig.  90. 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  FASTENINGS 


55 


ing,  and  the  joists  are  held  together  solid  in  their 
places.  Of  course  the  stone  or  brick  work  must 
be  laid  in  mortar  and  well  flushed  up. 

Sometimes  balloon  frames  are  built  up  on  timber 
sills  of  various  dimensions  and  it  may  be  well  to 
give  a  few  examples  here  of  this  method,  although 
the  matter  of  framing  and  laying  the  sills  is  simple 
enough. 


Fig.  91. 


Fig.  92. 


Some  timber  varies  in  size,  often  from  one- 
fourth  to  one-half  an  inch,  and  in  framing  the  cor¬ 
ners  this  fact  must  be  noted  and  provided  for  or 
the  studs  will  be  too  long  or  too  short  as  the  case 
may  be,  and  the  joists  will  not  be  in  line  on  top. 
The  sills  should  be  all  sized  to  the  same  dimension, 
and  all  joists  should  be  -sized  and  made  equal  in 
width.  Fig.  92  exhibits  one  method  of  using  a  tim¬ 
ber  sill.  This  is  rather  a  troublesome  method  and 
costly,  but  is  really  an  excellent  way  as  it  gives  a 
bearing  to  the  edge  of  the  joists  both  on  the  sill 


56 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


and  on  the  stonework.  At  Fig.  93  we  show  another 
method  of  using  a  timber  sill.  Sometimes,  in 
cases  of  this  kind  a  tenon  is  worked  on  the  end  of 
the  joists  and  a  corresponding  mortise  is  made  in 
the  sill  to  receive  it ;  more  frequently,  however, 
the  ends  of  the  joists  are  nailed  to  the  sill  by  be¬ 


ing  toe-nailed  to  it.  This  method  of  using  a  timber 
sill  is  not  to  be  recommended,  but  when  it  is  em¬ 
ployed  it  is  always  better  to  cut  in  boards  tight 
between  the  joists  and  nail  the  boards  solid  to 
the  sill.  This  makes  a  fair  job  and  insures  the 
joists  staying  in  their  places.  Another  method, 
with  a  part  of  the  studded  wall — in  section — is 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  FASTENINGS 


57 


shown  in  Fig.  94.  This  illustration  also  shows  the 
second  and  third  joists  and  their  manner  of  at¬ 
tachment  to  the  wall  studs.  The  rafter  and  scheme 
for  forming  the  cornice  are  shown  so  that  the  dia¬ 
gram  may  be  followed  by  the  workman  without 


trouble.  Fig.  95  shows  another  example  of 
heavy  sill  with  a  portion  of  the  wall  at  the  cor¬ 
ner  and  at  one  side  of  a  window  opening.  It  will 
he  noticed  that  the  corner  stud  and  the  jamb  stud 


58 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


at  the  window  are  made  4x4  inches  in  section. 
Where  such  studs  can  he  obtained  it  is  best  to 
get  them  solid,  but  the  usual  way  of  forming  these 
corners,  is  to  nail  two  studs  together  which  answer 


the  purpose  very  well.  The  joists  are  notched  or 
checked  onto  a  2"x4"  scantling  which  is  spiked  to 
lower  edge  of  the  sill  to  receive  the  joists.  This 
is  not  a  good  way  unless  the  lower  edges  of  the 
joists  rests  on  the  stonework  as  shown  in  Figs.  92 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  FASTENINGS 


59 


and  93,  as  the  joists  are  apt  to  split  at  the  corner 
of  the  notching  if  a  heavier  weight  happens  to 
be  placed  on  the  floor  than  was  at  first  intended. 
The  old-fashioned  way  of  framing  a  heavy  sill  to 
receive  joists  is  shown  in  Fig.  96.  This  method 
now  is  almost  obsolete  and  is  only  used  where 
joists  are  to  he  carried  across  a  large  room  and 


where  a  beam  or  bearer  is  not  admissible  as  noth¬ 
ing  must  show  in  the  room  below  the  ceiling,  and 
where  joists  are  in  two  lengths.  It  will  he  noticed 
that  there  are  three  different  methods  of  framing 
the  joists  in  the  sill.  The  first  shows  the  mortise 
too  low  down  on  the  sill,  the  second  too  high  up, 
while  the  third  is  in  the  strongest  point  where  a 
single  tenon  and  mortise  are  employed.  In  the  top 
of  the  sill  the  stud  mortises  are  shown,  with  two 


60 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


studs  in  situ  and  one  out  to  show  the  tenon.  There 
were  various  methods  of  framing  the  joists  into 
the  sills  in  order  to  obtain  the  greatest  resistance 
to  pressure,  among  which  was  the  double  tenon, 
the  tusk  tenon,  such  as  shown  in  Fig.  97,  the  upper 
example  being  disengaged  and  the  lower  one  in 
place.  There  are  also  many  other  methods  of 
framing  joists  into  heavy  timber  sills,  but  I  have 


exhibited  sufficient  examples  to  give  an  idea  of 
the  general  methods,  and  when  we  get  to  heavy 
framing,  I  will  say  more  on  the  subject  and  offer 
a  few  extra  examples.  Fig  98  shows  another  old- 
time  method  of  framing  a  sill.  This  is  called 
“Gaining  and  mortising  a  sill,”  and  was  often 


classification  of  fastenings 


61 


put  in  specifications  under  this  term.  Fig.  99 
shows  a  method  of  forming  a  sill  called  a  “box 
sill,”  ns  a  matter  of  fact  it  is  no  sill  at  all,  be¬ 
ing  formed  of  two  joists.  It  is  simple,  however, 
and  is  fairly  effective.  Another  box  sill  is  shown 
at  Fig.  100.  This  is  often  used  where  there  is  a 


good  foundation  under  it,  it  makes  a  very  good 
sill,  when  the  studding  is  cut  so  as  to  go  down 
to  the  bottom  and  occasionally  when  spiked  in 
the  joist  as  well  as  the  sill  it  makes  a  very  strong 

job. 

Fig.  101  is  another  strong  way  which  can  he  con- 


62 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


Fig.  101. 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  FASTENINGS 


63 


structed  a  little  quicker  and  is  good  for  a  cheap 
job,  but  I  prefer  the  other.  Fig.  102  is  cheaper 
still  and  used  a  good  deal,  just  the  one  piece  laid 
flat  on  the  wall,  the  joist  put  on  and  a  2x4  nailed 
on  the  joist,  and  then  the  studding  nailed  to  that. 
Or  let  the  studding  run  down  to  the  sill  and  do 
away  with  the  2x4  on  the  joist. 


,  In  forming  partitions  and  walls  in  balloon  and 
scantling  buildings  much  care  is  required  in  ar¬ 
ranging  the  studding  at  the  corners  and  about  the 
doors  and  windows  in  order  to  get  the  best  re¬ 
sults  with  as  little  expenditure  of  materials  and 
labor  as  possible,  and  in  order  to-  aid  the  work¬ 
man  in  this  direction,  I  have  gathered  together 
from  various  sources  a  number  of  examples,  the 
very  best  obtainable  for  this  purpose  and  embody 
them  in  this  department.  Take  for  instance  the 
corner  posts  in  a  balloon  frame  where  it  has  to 
serve  for  receiving  the  finishing  materials — board- 


64 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


ing  and  lathing — on  both  its  inner  and  outer 
angles.  These  should  be  straight,  firm  and  solid, 
and  constructed  so  as  to  make  a  good  outside  and 
inside  corner.  Fig.  103  shows  a  substantial  way, 
simply  by  nailing  four  together  strong  with  a 
good  outside  and  nice  inside  corner  to  lath  on. 
Fig.  104  is  another  way  practically  as  good  and 
saves  one  studding.  But  if  the  thickness  of  two 
was  not  the  width  of  one  it  would  bother  a  little. 


Fig.  103.  Fig.  104.  Fig.  105. 

Fig.  105  is  a  method  of  nailing  together  the  cor¬ 
ner  studding  in  a  way  to  avoid  the  difficulty  just 
mentioned  and  makes  a  good  corner. 

Fig.  106  shows  how  a  good  corner  for  a  cheap 
job  can  be  made  with  two  studding;  if  the  build¬ 
ing  is  not  sheathed  a  five-inch  corner  board  nailed 
together  at  the  corner  works  alright,  and  cham¬ 
fered  on  the  corner  looks  well,  too.  Of  course,  if 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  FASTENINGS 


65 


there  was  to  be  a  quarter  round  in  the  corner  that 
corner  shown  would  not  do  at  all.  I  think  you 
all  have  a  corner  on  that  subject  and  now  we  will 
mention  partitions.  Fig.  107  shows  that  where  the 
cross  partition  comes,  the  studding  should  be  3 
inches  (not  4)  apart,  and  then  spike  the  cross  par¬ 
tition  studding  to  them  and  you  have  a  solid  corner 
that  the  plastering  will  have  no  excuse  to  crack  in. 
Fig.  108  shows  corner  of  partition  where  the  par¬ 


tition  is  put  up  the  2-inch  way,  as  they  often  are 
in  closets  and  light  work.  If  you  wish  the  build¬ 
ing  to  show  as  high  as  possible  on  the  outside 
and  not  have  the  ceiling  too  high  on  the  inside,  Fig. 
109  shows  a  good  method  for  plate  and  ceiling 
joists;  for  better  job  the  plates  could  be  doubled. 
Fig.  110  shows  a  double  plate  ceiling  joist  on  top 
corner,  cut  to  keep  from  projecting  above  rafter, 
which  makes  the  best  job  for  general  purposes. 


66 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


At  Fig.  Ill  I  show  two  other  corners  some¬ 
times  used.  One  of  these  shows  the  least  amount 
of  material  that  can  be  used  for  an  outer  corner 
while  the  other  one  shows  a  solid  corner  formed 


Fig.  109.  Fig.  110. 


with  four  pieces  and  is  similar  to  Fig.  103,  and 
the  other  to  Fig.  107.  At  Fig.  112  is  shown  two 
examples,  the  upper  one  is  for  the  starting  point 
of  a  partition,  the  lower  one  shows  the  double  stud 


STUDDING 


67 


to  be  used  for  the  jamb  studs  for  windows  and 
doors.  Fig.  113  shows  the  proper  method  of  run¬ 
ning  lath  behind  a  partition  wall,  X  showing  the 
stud  starting  the  partition.  This  is  not  a  good 


Fig.  113. 


method,  though  very  often  made  use  of,  as  the 
angles  are  likely  to  crack.  A  much  better  way  is 
shown  at  Fig.  114,  which,  if  adopted,  and  done  well 
will  prevent  the  plaster  from  cracking.  The  2x3- 
inch  piece  indicated  by  A  in  Fig.  114  should  be 


cut  in  every  2  feet  in  height  of  partition  and  well 
nailed,  especially  to  the  2x5-inch  B.  When  2x3- 
inch  studding  is  used  in  the  main  partition  we 
would  suggest  employing  lx5-inch  piece  B,  instead 


68 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


of  a  2x5-incli.  Fig.  115  shows  a  section  of  a  wall 
intended  for  a  house  having  two  stories,  a  cellar 
and  attic.  This  shows  the  sill,  cellar  wall  and 


rafters  of  additional  annex,  the  annex  being  only 
one  story  and  cellar.  Another  sectional  view  of  out- 
side  wall  with  inside  and  outside  finish  is  shown 
at  Fig.  116.  This  shows  the  manner  of  forming 


OUTSIDE  WALLS 


69 


Fig.  116. 


I 


70  -  TIMBER  FRAMING 

the  sill,  placing  in  window  headers,  cornice  and 
general  finish.  As  this  section  is  drawn  to  a  scale 
of  half-inch  to  the  foot,  it  may  be  worked  from 
if  desired.  Another  section  of  an  outside  wall 


of  a  simpler  kind  is  shown  at  Fig.  117.  This  is 
for  a  one  and  a  half  story  house,  finished  quite 
plainly  inside  and  out. 

In  setting  up  inside  partitions  more  care  and 


PARTITIONS 


71 


attention  than  is  usually  paid  to  the  openings 
should  be  given.  .A.  careless  haphazard  way  of 
trimming  the  heads  of  doorways  and  the  conse¬ 
quent  result  after  a  few  years,  is  shown  at  Fig. 


118.  This  figure,  of  course,  shows  the  condition 
in  an  exaggerated  form,  hut  the  condition  does 
often  occur  very  much  to  the  detriment  of  the  door 
and  its  trimmings.  Fig.  119  shows  a  good  old- 


72 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


fashioned  way  of  framing  a  door  head  so  that  no 
movement  or  distortion  like  that  shown  in  118 
can  possibly  take  place  as  the  braces  at  the  head 


FLOOR  LINING 


LATH 


CO 


X 

04 


floor  lining 


•  m 

2X3 


DOOR  OPEN 


FLOOR 

LINING 


Fig.  120. 


are  toed,  or  notched,  into  the  top  stretcher  which 
prevents  them  from  pressing  out  the  jamb  studs. 
Another  method  which  is  quite  common,  and  which 


DOORWAYS 


73 


should  be  avoided,  is  shown  in  Fig.  120.  This 
last  is  a  cheap  slip-shod  way  of  fixing  partitions 
over  doors  but  it  very  often  leads  to  trouble  after 
the  building  is  occupied,  and  it  should  be  avoided 
in  the  interests  of  good  and  permanent  work. 
The  difference  in  cost  between  building  a  doorway 
as  at  Fig.  120  and  Fig.  119  is  so  small  that  no 


Fig.  121. 


contractor  should  for  a  moment  hesitate  in  adopt¬ 
ing  the  better  plan.  The  sill,  or  girder  and  joist 
shown  in  Fig.  119  need  not  be  followed,  they  are 
exhibited  just  to  show  the  old  methods  of  doing 
good  substantial  work  and  may  yet  be  employed 
in  some  situations.  At  Fig.  124,  I  show  a  portion 
of  a  floor  with  the  end  of  the  joist  resting  on  a 


74 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


1 


1 


1 


I 


J 


Fig.  122 


Fig.  123. 


FLOORING 


75 


bond  timber  which  is  supported  on  a  ledge  formed 
in  the  brick  wall  by  making  the  upper  story  one 
half  a  brick  thinner  than  the  wall  below.  This  is 


a  very  good  way  to  carry  the  joists  when  it  can  be 
accomplished  without  injury  to  the  wall  and  where 
the  building  is  not  more  than  three  stories  in 
height.  Fig.  125  shows  a  section  of  a  floor  with 


Fig.  125. 


joists,  floor,  ceiling  and  cross  bridging.  This  is  a 
good  example  of  building  a  good  solid  floor  for 
all  ordinary  purposes. 


> 


76 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


Fig.  126  shows  cross  bridging  with  floor  or  ceil¬ 
ing  and  Fig.  127  exhibits  the  proper  way  to  cnt  in 
the  joists  in  a  brick  wall  where  it  is  necessary  to 
run  the  joists  in  the  brick  wall.  The  joists  should 
rest  on  a  timber  which  is  built  in  the  wall  as  the 
bricks  are  laid. 


Fig.  128. 


A  good  way  to  set  up  second  or  third-story  studs 
is  shown  at  Fig.  128.  Of  course,  where  the  stud¬ 
ding  can  be  obtained  long  enough  to  run  the  whole 
height  of  the  building  it  is  better  to  get  them  if 
the  cost  will  admit,  if  not,  the  method  shown  will 


STUDDING 


77 


answer  very  well.  Fig.  129  shows  a  good  method 
of  trussing  a  partition,  it  is  simple  and  can  be 
done  without  much  labor  and  is  quite  effective. 


At  Fig.  130  I  show  a  method  of  preparing  a  wall 
of  scantling  for  veneering  with  brick ;  it  is  simple 
and  does  not  require  much  skill  to  make  a  good 
wall.  The  proper  way  is  to  put  down  a  stone  foun¬ 
dation  wall  of  sufficient  thickness  to  carry  both 


78 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


framing  and  brick  wall,  as  shown  at  Fig.  130.  The 
brickwork  is  tied  every  sixth  course  with  proper 
anchors,  as  shown,  which  are  about  6  inches  long, 
and  which  are  nailed  to  the  sides  of  the  studs.  The 
studding  may  be  2x4  or  2x6  inches,  and  framed 
in  the  ordinary  manner.  It  is  considered  the  bet- 
ter  way  to  rough  board  the  outside  of  the  studding 
and  then  cover  the.  boarding  with  good  building 


Fig.  130. 


paper,  and  brick  against  this.  A  good  warm  job  is 
the  result  if  the  work  is  properly  done.  The  bricks 
are  all  well  laid  as  “stretchers”  when  done  this 
wav,  and  the  best  bricks  should  be  selected  for  the 
work.  At  this  point  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to 
show  some  of  the  methods  of  laying  down  joists 
and  securing  hearth  and  stair  trimmers,  and  other 
similar  work.  As  I  have  shown  in  Fig.  127,  all 


LAYING  JOISTS 


79 


joists  entering  in  a  wall  should  be  cut  with  bevel 
ends,  so  that  in  case  of  fire  and  the  joists  being 
burned  or  broken  in  or  about  their  centers,  then 
should  they  fall  down,  they  would  pry  out 
either  the  bricks  or  stone  above  them  and  thus 
tend  to  destroy  the  wall.  The  employment  of 
bridging  as  shown  in  Figs.  125  and  126  is  for  the 
purpose  of  stiffening  the  joists  by  keeping  them 
from  twisting,  and  distributing  the  strain  over  a 
larger  number  of  joists  than  those  on  which  the 
weight  comes.  The  bridge  piers  should  be  2x2 
inches,  though  1x2  are  frequently  used,  and  they 
should  be  accurately  cut  to  the  required  angle  and 
firmly  nailed.  A  good  way  to  find  the  lengths  and 
bevels  of  the  pieces  required  for  the  braces  is  to 
snap  a  chalked  line  across  the  top  edges  of  the 
joists,  parallel  with  the  side  of  the  wall,  and  a 
second  line  distant  from  the  first,  just  the  depth  of 
joists,  and  of  course,  parallel  to  the  first  line.  The 
length  and  angle  of  the  braces  can  then  be  ob¬ 
tained  by  laying  the  piece  diagonally  on  the  joists, 
with  its  edges  just  touching  the  chalk  lines  on  the 
inner  edge  of  both  joists,  keeping  the  thickness  of 
the  stuff  inside  the  two  lines.  In  this  position 
mark  the  underside  of  the  bridge  piece  with  a 
pencil,  and  both  the  proper  angles  and  right  length 
are  given.  Each  piece  obtained  this  way  answers 
for  the  second  piece  in  the  same  space.  Two  nails 
should  be  driven  in  each  end  of  the  bridge  piece, 
if  a  good  permanent  job  is  desired. 


80 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


In  trimming  around  a  chimney  or  a  stair  well- 
hole,  several  methods  are  employed.  Sometimes 
the  header  and  trimmers  are  made  from  material 
twice  as  thick  and  the  same  depths  as  the  ordinary 


joists,  and  the  intermediate  joists  are  tenoned  into 
the  header,  as  shown  in  Figs.  131  and  132.  Here 
we  have  T,  T,  for  header,  and  T,  J,  T,  J,  for  trim¬ 
mers,  and  b,  j,  for  the  ordinary  joists.  In  the 
western  and  also  some  of  the  central  states,  the 


FIREPLACE  TRIMMING 


81 


trimmers  and  headers  are  made  up  of  two  thick¬ 
nesses  of  the  header  being  mortised  to  secure  the 
ends  of  the  joists.  The  two  thicknesses  are  well 
nailed  together;  this  method  is  exhibited  at  Fig. 
133,  which  also  shows  one  way  to  trim  around  the 
hearth;  C,  C,  C,  C,  shows  the  header  with  tusk 
tenons  on  ends,  which  pass  through  the  trimmers 
A,  A. 


t - 

— - r- 

rr — z. 

> 

4- 

i 

1 _ 

1  * 

i 

. 

- 

Fig.  133. 


At  Fig.  134  I  show  another  scheme  for  trimming 
around  a  fireplace  in  which  the  trimmers  and 
headers  T,  T,  are  seen,  the  headers  being  tenoned 
through  the  trimmer  joists  with  tusk  tenons  and 
keyed  solid  in  place.  The  central  line  of  hearth  is 
seen  at  X  Y,  the  intermediate  joists  at  b  j  and  the 
trimmers  at  t  j,  while  the  bond  timbers  are  in  evi- 


82 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


dence  at  w  p.  Here  there  are  two  flues  shown,  also 
the  hearth  tiling.  In  this  example  there  are  two 
holding  bolts  shown  by  dotted  lines  on  each  side  of 
the  fireplace  anchored  into  the  brick-wall  and  pass¬ 
ing  under  the  hearth  and  through  the  header  to 
which  it  is  secured  with  a  nut  and  washer.  A 
dumj-)  grate  is  shown  at  s  s.  This  is  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  letting  ashes  down  a  sliute  into  the  cellar 
where  there  should  be  an  iron  receptacle  to  receive 
them. 


Fig.  135  shows  a  sectional  view  of  the  hearth 
X  Y,  of  Fig.  134.  This  shows  a  brick  arch  turned 
under  the  hearth  to  support  it,  the  center  for  which 
the  carpenter  is  expected  to  make.  There  is  an 


FIREPLACE  TRIMMING 


83 


oak  or  other  suitable  hardwood  strip  mitred 
around  the  tiles  and  of  the  same  thickness  as  the 
flooring.  The  flooring  is  shown  at  b,  and  the 
joists  and  trimmer  are  shown  at  b  j  and  t  j,  respec¬ 
tively  ;  the  dump  shute  is  shown  at  the  shaded  part 
and  may  continue  to  cellar  floor,  or  cut  through 
the  wall  at  any  desirable  point  convenient  to  re¬ 
move  ashes. 


In  ordinary  buildings  the  brick  arch  is  seldom 
employed,  the  header  being  placed  pretty  close  to 
the  brick  work  and  the  joists  tenoned  into  it,  and 
the  tops  of  the  joists  being  cut  down  enough  to 
allow  a  layer  of  concrete  cement  and  tiles  on  the 
top  of  them  without  raising  the  tiles  above  the 
floor.  In  such  cases  strips  are  nailed  to  the  sides 


84 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


of  the  joists,  three  or  four  inches  below  the  top  of 
the  cut  joists.  Rough  boards  are  then  laid  in  these 
strips  after  which  the  space  is  filled  in  with  coarse 
mortar  to  the  level  of  top  edges  of  joists,  then  the 
concrete  cement  and  tiles  are  laid  on  this,  which 
makes  the  hearth  pretty  safe  from  taking  fire  and 
brings  the  tiles  to  the  floor  level ;  where  it  may  not 
be  considered  safe  to  trim  down  the  joists  to  this 
requirement,  the  joists  may  be  beveled  on  their  top 
edges  saw-tooth  shape,  and  this  will  serve  the  pur¬ 
pose  nearly  as  well  as  cutting  them  down  below 
their  top  edges  three  or  four  inches. 

Frequently  it  happens  that  a  chimney  rises  in  a 
building  from  its  own  foundation,  disconnected 
from  the  walls,  in  which  case  the  chimney  shaft 
will  require  to  be  trimmed  all  around  as  shown  in 
Fig.  133.  In  cases  of  this  kind  the  trimmers  A,  A, 
should  be  made  of  stuff  very  much  thicker  than  the 
joists,  as  they  have  to  bear  a  double  burden,  B,  B, 
shows  the  heading,  and  C,  C,  C,  C,  the  tail  joists. 
B,  B,  should  have  a  thickness  double  that  of  C,  C, 
etc.,  and  A,  A,  should  at  least  be  three  times  as 
stout  as  C,  C,  this  will  to  some  extent  equalize  the 
strength  of  the  whole  floor,  which  is  a  matter  to  be 
considered  in  laying  down  floor  timbers,  for  a  floor 
is  no  stronger  than  its  weakest  part. 

•  There  are  a  number  of  devices  for  trimming 
around  stairs,  fireplaces  and  chimney  stacks  by 
which  the  cutting  or  mortising  of  the  timbers  is 
avoided.  One  method  is  to  cut  the  timbers  the 


FIREPLACE  TRIMMING 


85 


exact  length,  square  in  the  ends,  and  then  insert 
iron  dowels — two  or  more — in  the  ends  of  the 
joists,  and  boring  holes  in  the  trimmers  and 
headers  to  suit  and  driving  the  whole  solid  to¬ 
gether.  The  dowels  are  made  from  %  to  1"  round 
iron.  Another  and  better  device  is  the  “bridle 
iron,”  which  may  be  hooked  over  the  trimmer  or 
header,  as  the  case  may  be,  the  stirrup  carrying 
the  abutting  timber,  as  shown  in  Fig.  136.  These 


Fig.  137. 


“bridle  irons”  are  made  of  wrought  iron,  2x2y2 
inches  or  larger  dimensions  if  the  work  requires 
such;  for  ordinary  jobs,  however,  the  size  given 
will  be  found  plenty  heavy  for  carrying  the  tail 
joists,  and  a  little  heavier  may  be  employed  to 
carry  the  header.  This  style  of  connecting  the 
trimmings  does  not  hold  the  frame  work  together, 
and  in  places  where  there  is  any  tendency  to 
thrust  the  work  apart,  some  provision  must  be 
made  to  prevent  the  work  from  spreading.  This 


86 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


may  readily  be  done  in  many  ways  that  will  sug¬ 
gest  themselves  to  the  workman.  Perhaps  the  best 
way  is  to  nail  a  hoop  iron  across  the  points  lapping 
one  end  up  the  side  of  the  trimmer  or  header,  and 
bending  it  over  the  arris,  running  it  along  the  edge 
of  the  joists  across  the  joints,  and  extending  it 
beyond  the  joints  ten  or  twelve  inches. 

In  no  case  where  a  trimmer  or  header  is  placed 
alongside  a  chimney  stack  should  the  woodwork  be 
less  than  iy2  inches  from  the  brickwork.  This  is 
a  precaution  taken  to  prevent  the  heat  of  the  stack 
from  setting  fire  to  the  timbers;  the  flooring  of 
course  is  obliged  to  be  within  one  inch  of  the  brick¬ 
work,  but  the  bare  board  always  covers  the  joint. 

I  show  a  few  examples  of  trimming  around  a 
fireplace  or  chimney.  Fig.  137  shows  a  very  good 
way,  and  one  very  frequently  employed.  Another 
way,  and  one  deserving  of  consideration  is  shown 
in  Fig.  138.  The  ends  of  the  stretchers  enter  the 
brick  wall  of  the  chimney,  into  which  has  been  in¬ 
serted  cast-iron  shoes  to  receive  them.  These 
shoes  prevent  sparks  or  fire  from  reaching  the 
timbers  from  the  flue  and  make  them  secure 
against  burning.  At  Fig.  139  I  show  a  trimmer 
with  double  mortises,  also  notches  in  the  ends  of 
the  stretchers.  These  notches  are  to  fit  over  a 
raised  rib  of  iron  in  the  cast-iron  shoes,  I  show  in 
Fig.  138.  Notches  are  sometimes  cut  in  the 
stretchers,  to  fit  over  a  bar  of  iron  which  is  some¬ 
times  used  to  carry  joists  over  an  opening  where 


FIREPLACE  TRIMMING 


•37 


Fig.  138. 


Fig.  139, 


Fig.  140. 


88 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


joists  cannot  be  let  into  the  brick  wall,  as  shown  at 
Fig.  140.  This  also  shows  how  joists  may  be  car¬ 
ried  over  small  openings  by  making  nse  of  a  flat 
iron  bar  which  has  screw  bolts  run  through  them 
to  carry  the  joists  below.  Where  a  girder  or  tim¬ 
ber  is  used  to  carry  joists  it  is  sometimes  neces¬ 
sary  to  drop  the  timbers  two  inches,  thereby 
affording  greater  strength  in  the  beam,  but  with 
the  disadvantage  of  projecting  below  the  ceiling. 
Fig.  141  shows  the  proper  proportions  for  framing 


Fig.  141. 


the  end  of  the  joists.  In  trimming  for  a  chimney 
in  a  roof  the  “headers,”  “stretchers”  or  “trim¬ 
mers”  and  “tail  rafters”  may  be  simply  nailed  in 
place,  as  there  is  no  great  weight  beyond  snow 
and  wind  pressure  to  carry,  therefore  the  same 
precautions  for  strength  are  not  necessary.  The 
sketch  shown  at  Fig.  142  explains  how  the  chimney 
opening  in  the  roof  may  be  trimmed — the  parts 
being  only  spiked  together.  A  shows  a  hip  rafter 
against  which  the  cripples  *or  jacks,  on  both  sides 


BALLOON  FRAMING 


89 


are  spiked.  The  chimney  stack  is  shown  in  the 
center  of  the  roof — isolated — trimmed  on  the  four 
sides.  The  sketch  is  self-explanatory  in  a  meas¬ 
ure  and  should  be  easily  understood. 

We  may  now  venture  to  build  a  small  house  and 
finish  same  on  the  lines  laid  down,  that  is  to  say,  a 
balloon  frame  house.  We  already  know  enough 


to  raise  the  walls,  put  up  and  complete  partitions 
and  trim  and  finish  openings.  Suppose  our  build¬ 
ing  to  be  24x42  feet  on  the  ground.  This  should 
be  laid  off  as  shown  in  Fig.  143,  first  the  founda¬ 
tion,  then  the  first  floor  as  shown,  then  the  second 
floor  with  three  bed-rooms,  hall  and  closets.  The 
manner  of  laying  the  joists  is  shown  in  Fig.  145. 
The  joists  are  laid  on  the  cellar  or  foundation 


90 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


A 


•  *!2i  i  -  -  -  -  • 


♦ 

c«i 


t 

• 

I 

t 

• 

I 

t 

1 


a 


a 


f^v/^r.c*.  1  &pj>r  <§tcoK° 


BALLOON  FRAMING 


91 


Fig.  144. 


92 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


Fig.  145. 


BALLOON  FRAMING 


93 


walls,  for  the  first  floor,  then  a  rougn  floor  may  be 
laid  on  these  joists,  and  the  string  pieces  for  the 
partitions  may  be  laid  on  this  floor,  or  the  partition 
studs  may  rest  on  the  joists,  good  solid  provision 
being  made  for  this  purpose. 

Before  the  partitions  are  built  in,  the  outside 
walls  must  be  put  up  and  properly  plumbed  and 
braced.  These  walls  must  rest  on  sills  formed  on 
the  lines  of  some  one  of  schemes  or  sections  shown 
in  the  preceding  pages.  A  section  of  one  side  of 
the  house  showing  the  bare  walls  is  produced  at 
Fig.  144.  This  figure  shows  the  openings  for  win¬ 
dows,  also  ends  of  porch  and  kitchen,  with  two 
sections  of  roof  on  different  levels.  The  lines  of 
joists  on  the  second  floor  are  shown  in  Fig.  145, 
also  the  direction  of  rafters,  ridges  and  hips  in 
the  various  roofs.  While  the  house  under  discus¬ 
sion  is  a  small  one,  the  methods  of  erection  are 
those  that  may  be  applied  to  the  building  of  all 
kinds  of  balloon  structures,  large  or  small. 

A  building  of  greater  pretensions  is  shown  at 
Fig.  146.  The  windows  and  doors  show  double 
studding  all  round.  This  is  always  a  good  plan 
to  adopt,  but  necessarily  uses  up  quite  a  lot  more 
material  than  is  actually  required ;  2x4  blocks 
nailed  on  the  studs  here  and  there,  would  answer 
quite  well  to  nail  the  finish  to,  but  if  a  building  be 
boarded  on  both  sides  of  the  wall,  neither  blocks 
nor  a  second  stud  would  be  necessary.  One  ob¬ 
jectionable  feature  in  this  frame  is  the  use  of  2x8- 


94 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


Fig.  146. 


BALLOON  FRAMING 


95 


inch  joists  in  the  attic  floor.  These  joists  are  too 
light  for  the  space  they  run  over;  they  should  at 
least  be  2xl0-inch,  then  there  would  be  little  dan¬ 
ger  of  the  floor  sagging,  particularly  if  the  floor 
joists  were  well  bridged. 


Dormers  should  be  framed  as  shown  in  the  sec¬ 
tion  drawing,  Fig.  147.  An  opening  of  the  proper 
size  to  receive  the  dormer  should  be  framed  in 
the  roof,  and  the  studs  of  the  dormer  should  be 


96 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


notched  out  one  inch  over  the  roof  boarding  and 
trimmer  rafter  and  extended  to  the  floor.  Notch¬ 
ing  the  studding  onto  the  roof  prevents  the  roof 
from  sagging  or  breaking  away  from  the  sides  of 
the  dormer  and  thus  causing  a  leak,  and  the  stud¬ 
ding  being  extended  to  the  floor  also  stiffens  the 
trimmer  and  gives  a  homogeneous  surface  to  lath 
on,  without  fear  of  plaster  cracks.  An  enlarged 
section  through  the  dormer  sill  is  also  given  in  Fig. 
147  showing  the  way  in  which  the  flashing  should 
be  placed.  The  flashing  should  be  laid  over  the 
second  shingle  and  the  third  shingle  laid  over  it. 
This  keeps  the  flashing  in  place  and  looks  better. 
The  upper  edge  of  the  flashing  should  be  securely 
nailed  to  the  back  of  the  sill.  As  soon  as  the  walls 
of  a  frame  building  are  up  they  should  be  covered 
with  hemlock,  spruce  or  pine  boards,  dressed  one 
side  and  free  from  shakes  and  large  knot  holes. 
When  the  brace  frame  is  used  it  is  generally  cus- 
tomarv  to  sheath  the  first  storv  before  the  second 
story  studding  is  set  up.  The  sheathing  or  board¬ 
ing  should  be  nailed  at  each  bearing  with  two  ten- 
penny  nails,  although  eight-penny  nails  are  often 
used.  If  the  building  is  built  with  a  balloon  frame 
it  is  necessary  to  put  the  boarding  on  diagonally 
in  order  to  secure  sufficient  rigidity  in  the  frame. 
With  the  braced  frame  diagonal  sheathing  is  not 
necessary,  although  it  makes  a  better  job  than 
when  laid  horizontally,  and  all  towers,  cupolas, 
etc.,  should  be  sheathed  in  this  way. 


ROOFING 


97 


In  covering  the  roof  two  different  methods  are 
pursued,  in  the  first  the  roof  is  tightly  covered 
with  dressed  boarding,  like  the  walls,  and  in  the 
second  narrow  boards  are  nailed  to  the  rafters 


Fig.  148. 


horizontally  and  with  a  space  of  two  or  three 
inches  between  them.  The  latter  method  is  con¬ 
sidered  to  make  the  more  durable  roof,  as  it 
affords  ventilation  to  the  shingles  and  causes 
them  to  last  longer.  But  if  the  attic  is  to  be  fin- 


98 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


ished  such  a  roof  is  very  hot  in  summer  and  cold 
in  winter,  and  most  architects  prefer  to  cover  the 
roof  with  boarding  laid  close  together  and  then 
lay  tarred  paper  over  the  boarding  and  under  the 
shingles  or  slate ;  this  not  only  better  protects  the 
attic  space  from  changes  in  temperature,  but  also 
prevents  fine  snow  from  sifting  in  under  the  slate 


or  shingles.  The  specifications  should  distinctly 
mention  whether  the  boards  are  to  be  laid  close 
together  or  laid  ojien,  as  well  as  the  kind  and 
quality  of  the  boards. 

Tinned  roofs  should  be  covered  with  matched 
boards,  dressed  one  side,  and  all  holes  covered 


ROOFING 


99 


with  sheet  iron,  and  the  ridges  planed  off.  Figs. 
148  and  149  show  how  a  village  church  spire  may 
be  constructed  by  the  use  of  scantlings  2x6  and  2x8 
inches.  The  corner  posts  are  formed  of  three 
pieces  2x6  inches  spiked  together.  The  other 
heavy  parts  are  formed  in  like  manner.  Plans  of 
the  structure  are  shown  at  A  and  B.  Of  course 
this  style  of  structure  can  be  changed  and  adapted 
to  suit  almost  any  style  of  spire  or  tower ;  hut  it  is 
not  my  intention  to  give  many  examples  of  spires, 
roofs,  towers  or  steeples  in  this  part,  as  I  intend 
to  show  a  number  of  such  in  Part  2  of  this  volume. 
I  will,  however,  add  a  few  light  timbered  exam¬ 
ples,  as  they  may  be  considered  as  balloon  framing. 

In  the  formation  and  construction  of  an  ogee 
roof,  many  things  are  to  be  considered,  and  as 
many  of  these  roofs  are  built  up  of  light  timbers 
and  covered  with  thin  and  flexible  materials  it  will 
not  be  considered  out  of  place  to  notice  a  few  ex¬ 
amples  at  this  point.  Fig.  A  150  shows  a  quarter 
plan  A  B  of  the  timbers  of  an  ogee  roof  to  a  cir¬ 
cular  tower.  The  three  purlins  also  shown  in  the 
plan  are  marked  1,  2,  3,  in  the  elevation.  The 
division  for  the  boarding  on  the  outside  is  indi¬ 
cated  by  C  D,  that  for  the  inside  boards  being 
indicated  by  G  H,  while  intermediate  bearers  for 
additional  fixing  for  boarding  are  numbered  4  to 
8  in  the  elevation.  Some  of  these  bearers  may  be 
omitted  at  discretion.  Fig.  B  150  shows  elevation 
and  vertical  sections  of  the  wall  plate,  which  is 


100 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


— Ofr  F  _ 

Fig.  150. 


ROOFING 


101 


formed  of  two  pieces,  each  2  in.  thick  by  4 y2  in. 
wide,  with  joints  crossed,  and  having  crossed 
bearers  out  of  6  in.  by  4  in.  stuff,  halved  together 
at  the  center  and  at  the  plate ;  all  being  flush  both 
sides  and  securely  bolted  to  the  plate  with  4 y2  in. 
by  V2  in.  bolts.  The  center  post  is  out  of  6  in.  by 
6  in.  octagonal  stuff,  is  stump-tenoned  into  the 
bearer  at  the  foot,  and  secured  with  1  in.  bolts. 
This  post  may  at  option  be  carried  up  above  the 


Fis.  151. 


cap,  and  finished  with  ornamental  turned  or  octag¬ 
onal  worked  finial.  The  ogee  rafters  are  4%  in¬ 
wide  and  are  made  up  of  two  iy±  in.  thicknesses. 
The  joints  are  crossed  and  securely  fixed  together 
with  screws  or  clenched  nails,  are  stump  tenoned 
into  the  plate  at  the  bottom,  and  are  shouldered 
into  the  post  at  the  top,  as  shown  by  the  solid  line, 
and  stump  tenoned  as  shown  by  dotted  lines  (see 
section  Fig.  B). 


102 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


The  rafters  are  secured  to  the  plate  at  the  foot 
with  angle  irons  6  in.  or  8  in.  long  by  21/.  in.  or  3  in. 
wide  and  14  in-  or  %  in.  thick,  fixed  with  %  in¬ 
coach  screws  or  bolts.  Purlins  1  to  3  are  the  main 
purlins.  Additional  purlins  4  to-  8  may  be  intro¬ 
duced  if  necessary.  Dotted  lines  carried  down 
from  section  to  plan  show  the  length  required,  and 
the  section  Fig.  155  shows  the  size  of  stuff  required 
for  cutting.  Fig.  151  shows  the  main  purlins  (1 


Fig.  152.  Fig.  153. 


to  3)  for  one-quarter ;  the  sections,  and  the  surplus 

stuff  to  be  cut  away,  being  shown  by  black  shading. 

These  purlins  can  be  cut  out  of  4  in.  by  9  in.  deals, 

and  with  very  little  waste  of  material  if  the  in- 

%/ 

side  (commonly  called  the  belly)  is  cut  out  first 
and  glued  on  the  back  edge,  two  ribs  being  thus 
got  out  of  each  9  in.  deal. 

Fig.  152  shows  the  intermediate  purlins  or 
bearers  for  one-eighth  of  the  circle.  Moulds  are 
taken  from  the  plan  in  the  same  way  as  for  the 


ROOFING 


103 


main  purlins,  and  the  bevels  for  squaring  are  ob¬ 
tained  in  the  same  way  in  each  case.  Fig.  153 
shows  (looking  upwards)  the  turned  cap,  perfor¬ 
ated  to  allow  of  sliding  on  to  the  octagonal  post. 
The  shape  of  the  outer  thickness  of  the  cover 
boarding  is  shown  by  Fig.  154.  The  method  of 
obtaining  the  mould  for  these  boards  is  as  follows : 
First,  divide  the  quarter  C  to  D  into  the  same 
number  of  spaces  as  the  predetermined  number  of 
boards  to  be  used.  Next,  divide,  on  the  outside,  the 
line  of  covering  into  say  twelve  equal  spaces- — the 
more  spaces  the  greater  the  accuracy  (see  sec¬ 
tion  numbered  0  to  12).  Lay  out  these  spaces  in 
a  straight  line  (see  Fig.  154)  to  get  the  stretch¬ 
out  of  the  ogee  from  the  back  of  the  ogee  (see  the 
dotted  lines  on  the  plan),  carry  down  a  line  to  the 
center  of  one  of  the  boards  on  the  quarter  (see 
X  X).  Take  in  the  compasses  the  width  of  the 
board  each  way  from  the  center,  and  transfer  these 
widths  on  the  stretch-out  line  as  Fig.  154.  Trace 
the  widths  from  point  to  point,  and  the  necessary 
mould  will  be  complete.  Let  the  mould  be  of  the 
full  given  width.  To  allow  for  the  slight  difference 
made  by  the  curve  of  the  board,  the  joints  will  be 
slightly  wreathed.  This  wreathing  may  be  accur¬ 
ately  obtained  by  following  for  the  lower  thick¬ 
ness  the  same  instructions  given  for  the  upper, 
when  the  difference  in  the  widths  of  the  two'  boards 
will  give  the  wreathing  necessary.  The  boards, 
for  convenience  of  bending,  may  consist  of  two 


104 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


thicknesses  of  %  in.  of  7/16  in.  stuff;  if  %  in.  that 
thickness  has  been  specified.  In  fixing,  let  them  lap 
over  the  joints  by  allowing  the  center  line  of  the 
lower  board  to  be  the  joint  line  of  the  upper  board. 
Fig.  155  shows  the  inner  edge  of  the  rafters,  with 


Fig.  154.  Fig.  155. 


their  joints  and  tenons.  Circular  towers  in  framed 
construction  may  be  divided  into  two  classes, 
namely,  those  which  have  their  foundations  on  a 
line  connected  with  the  main  foundation  of  the 


ROOFING 


105 


Fig.  156. 


106 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


TOWERS 


107 


house,  and  second  those  which  are  carried  up  from 
the  second  floor,  resting  on,  or  being  supported 
by,  the  floor  beams  of  the  second  story.  The  latter 
class  will  be  considered,  as  it  embodies  more  im¬ 
portant  construction,  although  some  of  the  matters 
which  will  be  treated  are  applicable  to  all  circular 


M'~  B 


Fig.  158. 


towers.  The  first  thing  for  the  practical  carpenter 
or  builder  to  consider  is  how  to  so  construct  the 
floor  as  to  support  the  tower  in  a  proper  manner ; 
that  is,  so  that  it  will  sustain  with  perfect  safety 
the  weight  to  be  placed  upon  it. 

Referring  to  Fig.  156,  which  is  supposed  to  rep- 


108 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


resent  the  general  appearance  of  a  tower  built  on 

an  angle  to  a  house.  It  is  placed  at  the  right 

hand  of  the  front  of  the  building,  and  is  designed 

to  form  an  alcove  closet,  or  an  extension  to  the 

corner  room.  Its  plan,  as  may  be  seen  in  Fig.  158, 

is  a  three-quarter  circle,  the  apex  of  the  angle  at 

the  corner  being  the  center  from  which  the  circular 

plan  is  struck.  The  radius  of  the  plate  outside  is 

three  feet  nine  inches  thus  making  the  tower  7  feet 

6  inches  in  diameter.  It  is  intended  that  the 

tower  floor  shall  he  level  with  a  room  in  the  second 

story  and  the  beams  or  joists  must  be  framed  in 

such  a  manner  that  the  flooring  can  he  laid  in  the 

circle  of  the  tower,  while  at  the  same  time  being 

so  secured  as  to  support  the  weight  of  it.  The 

form  of  construction  indicated  in  Fig.  158  of  the 

engravings  is  well  adapted  for  the  purpose,  and 

an  inspection  will  show  that  it  consists  of  a  double 

header  made  of  2x10  inch  timbers  placed  diagon- 

allv  across  the  corner  at  a  sufficient  distance  back 
%/ 

from  it  to  give  ample  leverage  to  counterbalance 
the  weight  suspended  outside  the  plate.  The 
tower  beams  are  framed  square  into  this  header 
on  the  outside  and  the  floor  beams  are  framed  into 
it  on  the  inside.  By  this  construction  a  cantilever 
is  formed,  for  the  header  in  carrying  the  main 
beams  forms  a  counterpoise  for  the  superadded 
weight,  which  is  borne  by  the  unsupported  beams 
which  project  outside.  It  will  be  readily  seen 
that  this,  obviously,  is  a  good  construction,  and 


TOWERS 


109 


much  better  than  introducing  many  short  timbers 
after  the  manner  indicated  in  Fig.  159.  In  the 
latter  case  the  leverage  outside  being  much  greater 
than  that  inside,  the  plate  being  the  fulcrum, 
there  is  a  strong  probability  of  its  tearing  away 
from  the  main  framing.  For  the  same  reason  it 
is  regarded  as  a  serious  mistake  to  attempt  to 


radiate  the  timbers  as  indicated  by  the  dotted  lines 
in  Fig.  159.  The  position  of  the  timbers  are  shown 
in  the  elevation  of  the  framing,  Fig.  157,  and  we 
have  no  doubt  that  practical  builders  will  fully 
appreciate  what  has  been  pointed  out. 

When  the  beams  are  inserted  and  the  main 
framing  has  been  nailed,  a  bottom  circular  plate, 


110 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


or  template,  marked  A,  in  Fig.  157,  is  made  from 
two  thicknesses  of  1  inch  stuff,  and  nailed  on 
exactly  the  size  required.  The  position  of  the  win¬ 
dow  studs  is  also  marked  on  it,  as  represented  in 
Fig.  158.  The  upper  plate,  or  which  is  really  the 
wall  plate  proper,  and  indicated  by  B  in  Fig.  157 
of  the  engravings,  must  also  be  made,  and  this  will 
rest  on  the  top  ends  of  the  studding  and  support 
the  rafters.  This  plate  will  be  a  complete  circle 
measuring  7  feet  6  inches  in  diameter  and  struck 
with  a  3  foot  9  inch  radius  rod  and  laid  out  upon 
the  floor,  as  indicated  in  the  roof  framing  plan, 
Fig.  160.  The  pieces  necessary  to  form  the  upper 
and  lower  plates  may  be  sawn  out  of  rough  1  inch 
pine  boards  from  one  pattern,  which  may  be  any 
one  of  those  drawn  in  the  plan,  and  a  number  of 
which  go  to  make  up  the  whole  plate.  The  stud¬ 
ding  are  cut  11  feet  8  inches,  which  being  added  to 
4  inches,  the  thickness  of  the  plates,  makes  the 
entire  height  12  feet.  The  window  headers,  both 
at  the  top  and  bottom  are  likewise  circular  and  are 
framed  in  after  the  manner  represented  in  Fig.  157 
to  form  the  openings  and  cripple  or  short  stud¬ 
ding  cut  in  under  them  in  the  center.  All  studding 
must  be  set  perfectly  plumb  and  all  plates  and 
headers  perfectly  level.  In  order  to  insure  this  it 
is  well  to  be  certain  that  the  bottom  plate  is  level 
by  placing  a  parallel  straight  edge  with  a  spirit 
level  on  top  of  it,  across  the  plate  at  different 
points.  Then,  if  the  studding  be  cut  in  equal  length 


TOWERS 


111 


Fig.  160. 


112 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


the  upper  plate  must,  in  consequence,  be  placed  in 

a  level  position.  A  number  of  horizontal  sweeps, 

2  inches  thick  and  4  inches  wide,  as  indicated  at 

C,  in  Fig.  157,  require  to  be  cut  out  to  form  ribbing 

or  pieces  nailed  in  16  inches  apart,  to  which  the 

vertical  boarding  outside  and  the  lath  and  plaster 

inside  are  fastened.  It  will  be  seen  that  if  this 

construction  is  followed  the  whole  evlindrical  wall 

%/ 

can  be  very  strongly  and  economically  built  up. 
To  save  time  and  labor  and  also  to  expedite 
matters,  the  sweeps  may  be  sawed  out  at  the  mill 
with  a  band  saw,  although  it  can  be  done  in  pine 
with  the  compass  saw. 

With  regard  to  the  molded  roof,  it  may  be  said 
that  having  a  molded  outline  it  will  necessarily  re¬ 
quire  molded  rafters  sawn  to  the  curvature  called 
for  in  the  elevation.  As  a  general  thing,  architects 
furnish  a  full  size  working  detail  for  roofs  of  this 
kind,  but  it  often  happens  that  it  is  not  forthcom¬ 
ing  and  the  carpenter  or  builder  is  obliged  to 
strike  out  a  pattern  rafter  himself.  To  do  this 
quickly  and  as  accurately  as  possible,  it  is  well 
to  lay  out  the  whole  roof  on  a  floor,  something 
after  the  following  manner:  Referring  to  Fig. 
161,  draw  any  base  line  7  feet  6  inches  in  length,  as 
A  B,  and  divide  exactly  in  the  center,  or  at  3  feet 
9  inches,  as  C.  From  C  square  up  the  line  to  9 
feet  high,  as  C  D,  and  divide  this  line  into  13  equal 
divisions,  as  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6  etc.  Through  these 
points  draw  lines  parallel  to  A  B  or  square  C  D 


TOWERS 


113 


Fig.  161. 


114 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


any  length  on  each  side  of  C  D.  Now,  from  fhe 
point  D  dress  the  curve  of  the  rafter,  as  indicated 
by  the  letters  E,  F,  G,  H,  I,  J,  K,  L,  M,  N,  0  and 
P,  as  near  to  the  outline  as  possible.  A  very  good 
method  of  obtaining  these  curves  is  to  divide  the 
architect’s  4  inch  scale  drawing  by  horizontal  divi¬ 
sion  lines  similar  to  those  in  Fig.  161,  and  to  scale 
off  the  lengths  from  the  axis  or  vertical  line  C  D. 
By  setting  off  these  measurements  on  a  full  size 
lay  out,  points  will  be  obtained  through  which  the 
flexure  of  the  curves  may  be  very  accurately  deter¬ 
mined. 

The  16  rafters  may  all  be  drawn  from  the  one 
pattern,  as  they  are  all  alike  and  should  be  framed 
to  fit  against  a  3  inch  wood  (boss),  as  indicated 
by  X  in  Fig.  160,  in  order  to  obtain  a  solid  nailing 
at  the  peak.  In  this  engraving  rafters  are  shown 
in  position  in  elevation  and  also  in  plan,  as  well 
as  the  way  they  radiate  or  are  spaced  around  the 
circle  16  inches  apart  on  the  plate.  As  it  is  always 
best  to  board  such  roofs  as  this  vertically,  ribbing 
or  horizontal  sweeps  will  have  to  be  cut  in  be¬ 
tween  the  rafters,  and  as  there  should  be  as  many 
of  these  as  possible  for  the  purpose  of  giving  a 
strong  framework  to  hold  the  covering  boards,  it 
is  advisable  to  cut  in  one  at  each  of  the  divisions 
marked  on  the  elevation  shown  in  Fig.  161.  The 
outline  plan  of  this  figure  represents  the  top  lines 
of  these  sweeps,  which  are  well  nailed  in  between 
the  rafters.  Fig.  162  of  the  engravings  shows  the 


DOMICAL  ROOFS 


115 


exact  size  of  the  headers  and  their  positions  when 
nailed  in.  They  are  struck  from  different  radii, 
which  shorten  as  they  go  upward.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  each  set  of  sweeps  is  consecutively 
numbered  with  the  lines  C  1,  2,  3,  etc.,  from  C  to 
D  of  Fig.  161.  There  will  be  15  sweeps  in  each 


course  and,  therefore,  15  different  patterns.  They 
may  be  conveniently  numbered  and  marked  in  the 
following  manner:  For  No.  2,  for  example,  a 
pattern  can  be  cut  and  marked  “Pattern  for  15 
sweeps,  No.  2.”  There  will,  therefore,  be  180 
altogether  to  be  cut  out,  and  these  should  be  cut 


116 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


Fig.  163. 


Fig.  164. 


DOMICAL  EOOFS 


117 


a  trifle  longer  than  the  exact  size,  in  order  to  allow 
for  fitting. 

At  Figs.  163  to  166,  I  show  the  construction  of 
a  domical  roof  with  a  circular  opening  in  the 
center  for  a  skylight.  Two  of  the  main  principals, 
C  D  and  the  corresponding  one,  are  framed  with 
a  king- post  c,  as  shown  in  Fig.  165 ;  the  others  at 


Fig.  165. 


right  angles  to  these,  with  queen-posts,  as  seen  in 
Fig.  166.  The  main  ribs  correspond  to  the  prin¬ 
cipals,  and  the  shorter  ribs  are  framed  against 
curbs  between  them,  as  at  a  Figs.  163  and  165. 

Figs.  167  and  168  show  the  framing  of  an  ogee 
domical  roof  on  an  octagonal  plan.  The  construc¬ 
tion  will  be  readily  understood  by  inspection ;  and 
the  method  of  finding  the  arris  ribs,  shown  in  Fig. 
169  will  be  understood  from  what  may  be  said 
when  treating  of  hip-rafters. 


118 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


Fig.  166. 


Fig.  167. 


DOMICAL  ROOFS 


119 


Figs.  170,  171,  172  and  173  show  the  construc¬ 
tion  of  a  domical  roof  with  a  central  post  b,  Fig. 
172,  into  the  head  of  which  four  pairs  of  trussed 
rafters  are  tenoned ;  four  intermediate  trusses 
Fig.  173,  are  framed  into  the  same  post  at  a  lower 


level.  The  collars  are  in  two  flitches  as  shown  at  c 
Fig.  172,  and  are  placed  at  different  heights  so  as 
to  pass  each  other  in  the  middle  of  the  span.  The 
collars  of  two  trusses  at  right  angles  to  each  other 
may  be  on  the  same  level,  and  halved  together  at 


120 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


Fig.  170. 


DOMICAL  ROOFS 


121 


Fig.  172. 


<their  intersection,  as  shown  at  Fig.  173.  The 
curved  ribs  are  supported  by  struts  from  the  prin¬ 
cipals,  as  seen  in  Figs.  172  and  173.  The  plan  and 
elevation  Figs.  170  and  171  exhibit  the  curved 


122 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


arrises  which  the  sides  of  the  horizontal  ribs 
assume  when  cut  to  the  curvature  of  the  dome,  as 
at  a  Fig.  172. 

In  connection  with  these  domical  or  curved  roofs 
it  may  not  be  amiss  to  give  a  few  examples  of  the 
methods  by  which  the  various  curves  are  obtained 
for  the  hips  and  cripples  or  jack  rafters,  that  are 
to  cut  in  against  the  hip.  Generally,  the  major 
or  regular  rafter,  will  be  cut  on  an  irregular  curve, 


Fig.  173. 


or  elliptical  as  will  be  seen  at  Fig.  174  this  sketch, 
the  dotted  curved  line  from  A  to  g  represents  one 
method,  while  the  curved  line  between  the  two 
points  following  the  intersections  of  lines  at  A  b 
c  d  e  and  f  with  horizontal  lines  H  I  J  K  and  Y, 
must  be  the  exact  position  for  the  major  rafter  at 
each  of  these  points.  More  points  may  be  taken 
in  the  same  manner,  according  to  the  requi remen ts 
of  the  case.  The  major  rafter  can  be  taken  in  this 


DOMICAL  ROOFS 


123 


manner  from  any  shape  that  it  may  be  desirable 
to  employ  in  the  minor  rafters. 

Another  example  is  shown  at  Fig.  175.  Here  the 
common  or  major  rafter  is  laid  down  first,  then 


mark  the  seat  of  the  hip  rafter  and  draw  in  the 
ordinates,  as  shown  by  the  dotted  lines,  and  em¬ 
ploy  as  many  as  seems  desirable,  the  number  being 
immaterial.  Extend  them  downward  until  they  cut 


124 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


Fig.  175. 


-HEHGHT-. 


DOMICAL  ROOFS 


125 


the  seat  of  the  hip  rafter.  Square  out  from  the 
seat,  and  make  the  different  heights  measured 
from  it  correspond  with  the  lines  from  which  they 
are  derived.  Then  take  a  thin  batton  strip  and 
bend  it  to  suit  the  points  thus  established.  Mark 
in  around  the  batton.  This  will  give  the  true  shape 
of  the  hip  rafter.  Now  lay  off  half  the  thickness 
of  the  hip  rafter,  parallel  with  the  seat  as  shown, 
and  where  the  ordinates  cut  it,  square  out,  as 
shown  by  the  dotted  lines.  Also  square  out  with 
the  ordinates  in  the  hip.  Draw  in  the  short  lines 
cutting  the  sweep  and  the  dotted  ordinates.  This 
gives  the  required  backing,  as  may  be  seen  by  the 
dotted  sweep.  In  the  third  place,  to  more  thor¬ 
oughly  understand  why  all  this  should  be,  take  a 
piece  of  large  cove  molding  as  shown  in  Fig.  176, 
then  cut  one  end  square  and  one  end  a  miter  and 
square  down  the  ordinate  as  seen  on  the  square 
sections.  Carry  the  lines  along  the  bottom  of  the 
piece,  and  square  them  again  across  the  miter  sec¬ 
tion.  When  this  has  been  done,  let  him  see  if  it 
will  fit  a  true  circle.  Let  me  here  remark  that 
when  any  circular  body  is  cut  on  an  angle  the  sec¬ 
tion  ceases  to  be  round  and  becomes  elliptical.  This 
is  a  fact  well  worth  keeping  in  mind.  There  are 
many  other  methods  of  obtaining  curves  for  this 
kind  of  work,  and  when  I  come  to  discussing  heavy 
timber  framing  and  roofing,  I  may  take  the  subject 
up  again. 

In  the  framing  of  mansard  and  curb  roofs  with 


126 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


CD 

iH 

ti 


MANSARD  ROOFS 


127 


light  scantlings,  many  methods  are  in  vogue,  some 
very  good,  some  otherwise.  I  will  have  more  to 
say  on  this  subject,  too,  later  on.  The  method  I 


Fig.  177. 


show  here  at  Fig.  177  should  commend  itself  to  all 
good  framers,  as  being  neat,  strong  and  economic. 
It  is  built  up  with  small  timbers  and  is  quite  suffi¬ 
cient. 


128 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


The  two  schemes  for  mansard  roofs  shown  at 
Fig.  178,  are  in  a  measure  self-explanatory.  They 
are  formed  with  light  scantlings  and  joists,  the 


06 

t- 

tH 

th 


sizes  of  timbers  being  given  on  sketches.  The 
joists  of  the  attic  floor  serve  as  the  main  ties,  and 
are  spiked  to  the  wall-plates.  In  No.  1  the  common 
rafters  forming  the  lower  slopes  of  the  roof  are 


TRUSSED  ROOFS 


129 


nailed  to  the  joists,  and  supported  in  the  middle 
by  studding.  They  are  cut  out  at  the  top  in  bird ’s- 
mouth  form  to  support  the  continuous  plate,  on 
which  the  upper  rafters  and  ceiling  joists  rest.  A 
more  elaborate  arrangement  is  shown  in  No.  2, 
where  the  lower  slopes  of  the  roof  are  curved,  and 
an  eaves  cornice  of  wide  projection  is  constructed. 
A  partition  is  introduced  at  A,  so  that  the  walls  of 
the  rooms  are  vertical.  For  roofs  of  ordinary 
buildings,  cottages,  dwellings  or  even  country 
villas  the  examples  shown  will  be  quite  strong 
enough  to  do  all  service  required  of  them.  For 
larger  and  more  extensive  buildings,  heavier  and 
larger  timbers  will  be  required,  and  under  the  head 
of  Heavy  Timber  Roofs  in  the  second  part  of  this 
volume,  I  will  deal  with  mansard  and  'other  roofs 
at  length. 

For  a  light  trussed  roof,  that  is  self-supporting, 
the  German  Truss,  so  called,  for  light  stiff  work, 
is  an  excellent  arrangement.  Fig.  179,  shows  the 
method  of  construction  and  Fig.  180,  some  details 
of  same.  This  truss  is  generally  known  as  the 
scissor-beam  truss.  Here  the  collar-beam  is  in 
compression,  and  the  parts  or  timbers  mostly  being 
double  as  shown  in  details  C  and  B.  The  rafters 
being  supported  in  the  middle  are  more  than  twice 
as  strong  as  in  a  couple-close  roof  of  the  same 
span.  The  ends  of  the  collars  may  be  halved  on 
to  the  rafters  and  secured  with  nails  or  bolts.  A 
board  may  be  clinch-nailed  to  unite  the  three  pieces 


130 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


at  the  apex.  Trussed-rafter  roofs  of  this  and  other 
kinds  involving  a  considerable  amount  of  labor, 


may,  for  the  sake  of  economy,  be  spaced  farther 
apart  then  ordinary  rafters,  stronger  slats  being 


TRUSSED  ROOFS 


131 


132 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


used  for  the  slating,  and  furring  strips  being  fixed 
to  receive  the  plasterer’s  laths. 

Another  roof,  somewhat  similar  to  the  one  just 
shown,  is  exhibited  at  Fig.  181.  This  is  more  eco¬ 


nomical  than  the  previous  example  so  far  as  labor 
is  concerned,  but  is  by  no  means  as  good  or  effi¬ 
cient,  but  will  be  found  quite  efficient  where  the 
span  is  not  more  than  30  feet;  where  the  timbers 
cross  each  other  they  must  be  either  well  spiked 


SILLS  AND  JOISTS 


133 


together,  or  have  carriage  bolts  put  through  them 
and  well  tightened.  It  often  occurs  that  the  car¬ 
penter  is  called  upon  to  build  a  ventilator  or  belfry 
on  a  stable  or  other  building  and  in  order  to  meet 
this  emergency  I  submit  the  sketches  Figs.  182 
and  183,  which  I  think  will  often  prove  useful.  We 
suppose  the  roof  to  be  already  constructed  and  the 
upper  work,  as  shown  at  182,  built  over  the  ridge 
with  very  light  timbers ;  Fig.  183  shows  the  venti¬ 
lator  and  a  portion  of  the  stable  in  a  finished  con¬ 
dition. 

Many  bay  windows  are  now  built  without  having 
a  foundation  from  the  ground,  the  whole  being 
projected  from  the  wall  of  the  building  and  a  few 
hints  and  suggestions  as  to  the  construction  of  a 
window  of  this  kind  may  not  be  out  of  place  at  this 
point. 

In  Fig.  184,  is  shown  a  detail  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  sills  and  joists  in  a  house  are  built.  The 
foundation  wall  is  of  cement,  the  sill  of  2x8  inch 
material.  The  joists  are  2x10  inch  material  placed  . 
sixteen  inches  on  centers.  On  the  plan  where  the 
bay-window  comes  the  joists  should  be  longer  and 
should  be  extended  past  the  wall  eighteen  inches, 
as  shown  in  detail,  Fig.  185.  These  joists  support 
the  bay.  As  a  rule  a  templet  is  made  from  plan 
and  is  used  to  lay  out  window  on  joists  and  they 
are  cut  to  conform  with  it.  It  is  customary  to 
spike  on  the  ends  of  the  joists  pieces  of  the  same 
material  to  strengthen  the  work.  I  have  found 


134 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


Fig.  183 


SILLS  AND  JOISTS 


135 


that  by  using  studs  2x4  inches  as  plates  and  spik¬ 
ing  them  on  top  of  the  joists,  as  shown  in  Fig.  185, 
was  all  that  was  necessary  to  make  a  good  strong 
job.  After  plates  have  been  nailed  on  the  joists 
they  are  cut  plumb  down  from  the  outside  edge 
of  plate,  so  that  the  sheathing  may  be  nailed  on. 
Care  must  be  taken  to  have  the  plates  true  with 
plan.  The  studding  being  erected  in  the  main 
building,  put  up  the  studding  in  the  bay  window. 
There  should  be  two  at  each  angle  or  a  solid  piece 
may  be  got  out  to  place  here.  The  other  studding 


should  be  placed  sixteen  inches  on  center.  Double 
plates  are  used  and  stay  lathed  true  with  templet. 
The  roof  plan  is  shown  in  Fig.  186.  The  roof  has 
a  raise  of  one  foot  above  the  plate.  Rafters  are 
framed  and  put  on  as  in  detail  Fig.  186.  Then 
they  are  cut  off  on  plumb  eleven  inches  from 
sheathing.  Lookouts  are  nailed  on  rafters  and  toe- 
nailed  in  sheathing,  care  being  taken  to  have  them 
all  the  'Same  distance  from  the  top  of  plate  and 


136 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


true.  The  material  for  lookouts  may  be  1x6  inches 
framed  as  in  Fig.  187.  The  planceer  board  is 
fitted  and  nailed  on  lookouts,  facia  boards  fitted 


and  put  on,  also  crown  moulding,  the  top  of  which 
should  be  even  with  top  of  roof  boards.  Shingles 
being  used  the  hips  should  be  flashed  with  galva¬ 
nized  iron,  also  flashing  put  on  against  sheathing 


BAY  WINDOWS 


137 


on  house.  The  window  is  sheathed  up  and  the 
window  frames  set  true.  Then  we  can  put  on  the 
water-table.  Friese  boards  are  put  on  and  the  bed 
mould,  which  finishes  between  friese  and  planceer 
boards,  as  in  Fig.  187.  Sometimes  corner  boards 
are  used  on  angles.  Of  course  they  make  the  work 
easier,  but  a  better  looking  job  can  be  done  by 
mitering  the  clapboards  on  these  angles.  Often 
a  small  strip  of  inch  and  one-eighth  material  is 


Fig.  187. 


fitted  to  use  in  the  angles  against  main  building. 
This  gives  good  results  as  the  main  part  or  bay 
can  be  clapboarded  separately  as  well.  We  would 
advise  that  a  miter-box  be  made  and  used  to  cut 
clapboards  at  angles,  and  if  care  is  taken  in  laying 
it  out  and  in  the  way  the  siding  is  put  on  it  to 
expedite  the  work.  A  story-rod  should  be  used  to 
lay  off  for  siding.  We  have  often  seen  many  jobs 
where  poor  workmanship  and  slack  methods  were 


138 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


used,  also  on  some  jobs  where  three  or  four  more 
clapboards  were  used  on  one  side  than  on  the 
other,  illustrating  the  need  of  a  story-rod.  At 
Fig.  188  is  shown  the  skeleton  framework  com¬ 
plete  ready  to  receive  whatever  covering  may  be 
decided  upon.  The  window  frames  will,  of  course, 
be  made  to  fill  the  openings  and  should  be  put  in 
place  after  the  frame  is  rough  boarded  and 
papered.  Good  paper  should  be  well  wrapped 
around  the  window  studs  in  order  to  exclude  wind, 
and  if  the  work  is  properly  done,  the  whole  can  be 
made  as  warm  and  as  airtight  as  any  other  part 
of  the  house. 

In  many  localities  long  scantlings  are  hard  to  get 
and  are  very  costly.  To  overcome  this,  2x4  inch 
scantlings  may  be  spliced  by  putting  the  ends  to¬ 
gether  and  nailing  pieces  of  inch  stuff  on  each  side 
of  the  joint  from  18  to  24  inches  long  and  this  will 
make  a  strong  splice  for  studs  that  stand  on  end. 
Of  course,  if  the  stud  happens  to  be  for  a  corner 
or  for  a  door,  or  a  window  jamb,  the  splicing  piece 
must  not  show  inside  the  opening  as  it  would  inter¬ 
fere  with  the  window  or  door  frame.  Sometimes 
studs  are  lengthened  by  allowing  them  to  lap  over 
each  other  and  the  lap  spiked  together  with  four 
inch  spikes  or  nails.  This  is  not  a  good  method 

and  should  only  be  made  one  use  of  in  certain  con- 

•/ 

ditions  when  little  or  no  weight  is  to  rest  on  the 
studs.  A  stout  piece  of  scantling  of  the  same  sec¬ 
tion  as  the  studding,  may  be  nailed  or  spiked  along 


Fig.  188. 


140 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


the  end  joints,  making  a  splice  that  does  its  work 
very  well. 

In  putting  up  a  balloon  frame  with  short  studs 
it  is  usual  to  put  it  up  in  single  stories.  The  first 
story  should  be  completed  as  far  as  the  framing  is 
concerned  and  a  rough  floor  laid  for  the  second 


story,  on  this  floor  2x4  inch  stringers  should  he  laid 
all  around  the  building  on  a  line  with  the  outside 
walls  and  the  window  and  other  openings  should 
be  marked  off  on  these  stringers,  and  where  possi¬ 
ble  this  upper  studding  should  stand  direct  over 


SKELETON  FRAMEWORK 


141 


the  studding  in  the  lower  story;  and  if  this  occurs 
between  the  joists  of  the  second  floor  short  pieces 
of  studding  should  be  “cut”  in  between  the  plate 
of  the  first  story  and  the  stringer  and  nailed  in 
solid,  which  will  throw  the  weight  of  the  upper 
studding  onto  the  lower  studs.  Buildings  erected 
this  way  are  strong  enough  to  resist  all  ordi¬ 
nary  wind  pressures,  but  in  all  cases  it  is  best  to 


board  up  the  outside  of  the  frames  diagonally. 
This  insures  the  tying  of  the  stories  together,  mak¬ 
ing  the  whole  building  very  much  stronger  and 
rendering  it  so  that  the  wind  would  have  to  be 
strong  enough  to  blow  over  the  whole  building 
before  the  upper  portion  would  budge. 

Before  leaving  balloon  or  light  framing,  it  will 
not  be  amiss  to  show  a  few  examples  of  eave  or 
cornice  framing  suitable  to  both  light  or  heavy 


142 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


timber  work.  Fourteen  examples  are  exhibited 
from  Figs.  189  to  203  inclusive.  Fig.  189  shows 
a  very  plain  cornice  with  the  rafter  cut  so  as  to 
partly  rest  on  the  plate,  with  a  portion  running 
over  the  plate  to  form  the  projection  and  eave. 
The  method  of  finishing  is  also  shown.  Fig.  190 
exhibits  a  somewhat  more  elaborate  cornice  with 
gutter  trough  at  B.  In  this  case  the  planceer 
stands  out  at  right  angles  from  the  wall. 


Fig.  191  shows  a  rafter  projecting  out  and  over 
the  wall  about  three  and  a  half  feet  and  dressed 
and  moulded.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  projection 
is  of  different  pitch  to  the  main  roof,  and  this 
necessitates  the  projecting  and  being  a  separate 
piece  with  the  inside  end  spiked  to  the  main  rafter 
as  shown. 


CORNICES 


143 


Fig.  192  shows  a  cornice  where  the  projecting 
ends  of  the  ceiling  joists  play  an  important  part  in 
the  construction  of  the  work.  The  rafter  rests 
on  the  ceiling  joists  and  is  notched  over  the  plate, 
which  may  be  notched  into  the  joists  or  spiked  in 
them  as  shown.  The  ends  of  the  joists  are  trimmed 
off  to  slope  of  roof. 


Fig.  193  also  shows  projecting  ceiling  joists  with 

ends  of  rafters  spiked  to  joists.  This  is  not  good 

construction  but  mav  be  used  where  the  roof  is 

* 

not  extensive. 

Fig.  194  shows  an  old  time  cornice  with  a 
wooden  gutter.  This  style  is  seldom  used  nowa¬ 
days,  but  sometimes  people  living  in  the  country 
insist  on  employing  it. 


144 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


*/#***/> 

c#» 


Fig.  194. 


CORNICES 


145 


Fig.  196  exhibits  another  cornice  on  nearly  the 
same  lines  as  Fig.  194.  I  may  say  here,  that  in¬ 
stead  of  wooden  gutters,  heavy  galvanized  sheet 
iron  gutters  could  be  employed  to  advantage. 

ft  -  s  s 


Fig.  196. 


Fig.  197  shows  a  rafter  resting  in  a  foot  mortise 
or  crow-foot  in  a  solid  heavy  timber  frame.  This 
style  of  framing  rafters  is  often  used  iu  heavy 
timber  -77ork,  such  as  barns,  stables,  warehouses, 
freight  sheds  and  similar  structures. 

Fig.  198  shows  another  cornice  which  is  intended 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


F itf.  198. 


CORNICES 


147 


to  have  a  wooden  gutter.  The  method  of  finishing 
the  rafter  on  the  lower  end  to  receive  the  gutter  is 
shown. 

Fig.  199  shows  a  cornice  designed  for  a  brick  or 
stone  house  having  a  curve  at  the  eave.  The 
method  of  finishing  is  shown  and  is  quite  simple, 


the  furring  being  the  main  thing  in  forming  the 
•  curve  for  the  bed  of  the  shingles  or  slate. 

Fig.  200  shows  a  very  good  method  of  forming 
a  cornice  for  a  balloon  frame.  It  is  very  simple, 
easily  formed  and  quite  effective, 


148 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


Fig.  201  shows  a  cornice  where  the  pitch  of  the 
roof  suddenly  changes  at  the  projection,  as  is 
sometimes  the  case  with  towers,  balconies  and  over 
bay  windows.  The  method  of  construction  is 
shown  very  clearly  in  the  illustration  and  may 
readily  be  followed. 


.Fig.  202  shows  an  ornamental  cornice  which  may 
be  used  either  on  cottage  or  veranda  work.  A 
portion  of  the  rafters  shows  as  brackets  below  the 
planceer, 


VERANDA  ROOF 


149 


Fig.  203  shows  a  part  of  a  veranda  roof,  with 
brackets,  gutter,  and  facia.  Here  the  roof  has  a 
very  low  pitch  and  the  rafters  are  nailed  against 


Fig.  201.  Fig.  202. 


the  sides  of  the  ceiling  joists  and  the  depression 
for  the  gutter  is  cut  out  at  the  end  of  the  rafter 
as  shown.  The  gutter,  of  course,  like  all  similar 
gutters,  is  lined  with  galvanized  iron,  zinc  or  tin. 


150 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


These  examples  of  cornices  are  quite  sufficient 
for  the  framer  to  have  by  him ;  if  other  designs  are 


Fig.  203. 


required,  the  workman  should  experience  no  diffi¬ 
culty  in  forming  what  he  wants,  having  these  de¬ 
signs  at  his  command. 


INTRODUCTION  TO  PART  II. 


“Heavy  Timber  Framing’’  is  an  art  that  re¬ 
quires  considerable  skill  on  behalf  of  the  man  who 
“lays  out”  the  work,  because  of  the  fact  that  this 
work  must  be  carried  on  without  “trying”  how 
the  work  coincides,  or  in  other  words,  without 
being  able  to  make  use  of  the  good  old-fashioned 
rule  of  “cut  and  fit.”  The  lengths,  cuts,  locations 
and  duties  of  each  piece  of  timber  used  in  the  con¬ 
struction  of  heavy  frame  work,  must  be  considered 
by  the  framer,  and  each  piece  entering  into  the 
building,  must  be  mortised  and  wrought  separ¬ 
ately.  This  is  no  easy  task,  and  the  person  under¬ 
taking  it  assumes  no  small  responsibility  and  his 
position  is  such  as  should  insure  to  him  a  remun¬ 
eration  commensurate  with  the  position  and  re¬ 
sponsibility  he  accepts.  Unfortunately,  the  “boss 
framer”  receives  as  pay  but  very  little  more  than 
the  regular  carpenter,  something  that  is  not  as  it 
should  be,  and  if  he  were  not  ambitious,  and  proud 
of  his  ability  as  a  framer,  he  would  not  accept  the 
position,  but  rather  take  a  place  among  the  ordi¬ 
nary  workmen  and  thus  escape  the  responsibilities 
of“Bosship.” 


151 


PART  II. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING. 

“Is  heavy  timber  framing  a  lost  art?”  This 
question  has  been  asked  me  many  times  during 
the  past  twenty  years  and  I  have  invariably  an¬ 
swered  it  in  the  negative. 

“Heavy  timber  framing  is  not  a  lost  art.”  If 
necessity  arose  tomorrow  in  the  United  States  or 
Canada,  for  the  services  of  five  thousand  compe¬ 
tent  framers  they  would  be  forthcoming  within  a 
period  of  sixty  days  if  inducements  were  suffi¬ 
ciently  attractive.  .  Since  the  introduction  of  steel 
frames  into  building  construction,  the  use  of  tim¬ 
ber  frames  in  roofs,  buildings,  bridges  and  trestle 
work  has  greatly  fallen  off,  particularly  in  or  near 
large  cities,  where  timber  lias  become  scarce  and 
costly,  but  in  the  wTest,  north,  and  south,  timber 
structures  are  often  made  use  of,  and  will  be  for 
many  decades  yet.  Indeed,  even  when  steel  is 
made  use  of  timber  has  to  be  frequently  employed 
in  special  cases;  so  that  a  knowledge  of  framing 
is  as  necessary  to  the  general  workman  to-day  as 
it  ever  was.  When  I  say  this,  I  do  not  mean  that 
it  is  necessary  to  become  an  expert  framer,  but 
that  a  knowledge  of  the  proper  way  to  handle  and 

-152 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


153 


lay  out  timber,  should  be  possessed  by  every  man 
who  aspires  to  be  a  competent  carpenter. 

Heavy  framing  is  an  art  that  requires  consid¬ 
erable  ability  and  intelligence  on  the  part  of  the 
operator,  inasmuch  as  it  is  not  one  of  those 
branches  of  the  trade  where  the  “cut  and  fit” 
process  can  be  applied.  Each  piece  of  timber, 
whether  it  be  a  girt,  a  chord  or  beam,  a  post,  brace, 
sill,  girder,  strut  or  stringer,  must  be  dealt  with, 
and  given  its  proper  shape,  length  and  relation¬ 
ship  to  the  part  or  parts  it  is  to  be  connected  with, 
without  its  being  brought  in  direct  contact  with 
it  until  all  is  ready  to  be  put  together  and  pinned 
up  solid.  A  clear  head  and  a  good  memory,  along 
with  the  faculty  of  exactness,  are  absolutely  neces¬ 
sary  qualifications  for  the  making  of  a  good 
framer.  He  must  see  to  it  that  all  tenons  are  the 
right  size  to  suit  the  mortises  which  they  are  in¬ 
tended  to  fill,  and  that  all  mortises  are  clearly 
and  smoothly  finished  and  not  too  large  or  too 
small  to  snugly  receive  the  tenons,  and  all  this 
must  be  done  without  any  “trying  and  fitting.” 
The  charm  of  good  framing  lies  in  the  fact  that 
every  mortise  and  tenon  must  be  ‘  ‘  driven  home  ’  ’ 
with  a  heavy  wooden  mall ;  but  tenons  should  not 
fit  so  tight  as  to  require  more  than  ordinary  driv¬ 
ing. 

The  tools  required  by  the  heavy  timber  framer 
are  not  numerous,  but  are  heavy  and  somewhat 


154 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


costly.  I  give  a  list  of  most  of  the  tools  em¬ 
ployed  herewith: 

An  ordinary  chopping  axe. 

A  good  heavy  headed  adze. 

A  heavy  8  or  10  inch  blade  broad-axe. 

A  carpenter’s  4  or  5  inch  hatchet. 

A  ten  foot  pole  made  of  hardwood. 

A  steel  square,  ordinary  size. 

A  bridge  builder’s  square  with  3  inch  blade. 
Two  or  three  good  scratch  awls. 

Chalk  lines,  spools  and  chalks. 

Several  carpenter’s  heavy  lead  pencils. 

One  or  two  pairs  of  “winding  sticks”  or  battons. 
One  “slick”  or  slice  with  31/2  or  4  inch  blade. 

A  good  jack  plane  and  a  smoothing  plane. 

A  boring  machine  with  four  augers. 

Three  or  four  assorted  augers  for  draw-boring 
An  ordinary  sized  steel  crow-bar. 

An  adjustable  cant-liook,  medium  size. 

A  couple  of  good  hickory  or  ironwood  hand¬ 
spikes. 

A  half  dozen  4  inch  maple  rollers. 

Four  good  framing  chisels,  2  in.,  1  y2-  in.,  ly4  in., 
and  1  in. 

A  two-liand  cross-cut  saw  about  5  feet  long. 

A  good  hand-saw,  also  a  good  rip-saw. 

Two  oil  stones,  and  a  good  water-of- Ayr-stone. 
Sometimes  a  medium  weight  logging  chain  will 
be  found  very  useful. 

An  adjustable  bevel  will  come  in  handy  at  times. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


155 


These,  with  a  few  other  tools  that  will  suggest 
themselves  from  time  to  time  as  the  work  pro¬ 
gresses,  will  be  all  that  will  be  necessary  to  frame 
the  most  complicated  frame  structure. 

While  I  do  not  intend  to  give  a  lengthy  descrip¬ 
tion  of  these  tools  or  give  prosy  directions  re¬ 
garding  their  use,  care  and  management,  I  deem  it 
proper  to  say  a  few  words  on  the  subject :  The  com¬ 
mon  chopping  or  woodman  axe  is  so  well  known 


to  every  American  that  I  need  not  say  much  of  it 
at  this  juncture.  It  is  one  of  the  most  useful  tools 
the  framer  possesses,  as  it  can  be  used  for  so  many 
purposes ;  indeed,  in  the  hands  of  some  workmen 
it  can  be  made  to  take  the  place  of  several  tools. 
It  is  sharpened  from  both  faces. 

The  next  in  order  will  be  the  adze,  which  should 
have  a  good  heavy  steel  faced  pole  or  head.  This 
should  have  a  well  tempered  cutting  blade  not  less 
than  three  inches  wide,  and  should  have  a  handle 
shaped  as  shown  in  Fig.  204.  This  Is  a  dangerous 
tool  for  the  inexperienced  workman  to  use,  and 


156 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


differs  from  the  axe,  as  the  cutting  edge  is  at  right 
angles  with  the  handle.  It  has  been  named  “The 
Devil’s  shin  hoe,”  as  it  has  made  many  a  serious 
wound  in  workmen’s  shins.  It  is  ground  from  one 


i 


j= 

Fig.  205. 

face  only.  At  Fig.  205  I  show  the  style  of  chisel 
that  should  be  used  in  framing.  These  can  be 
obtained  in  any  sizes  from  half  inch  to  three 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


157 


inches.  They  are  heavy  and  strong  and  with  care 
will  last  a  lifetime. 

The  hatchet  shown  at  Fig.  206  is  a  very  handy 
tool  for  the  framer,  and  may  be  used  for  many 
purposes,  more  particularly  for  making  pins  or 
pegs  to  fit  the  draw-bores.  It  is  also  useful  for 
splitting  off  the  surplus  wood  from  the  shoulders 
of  the  tenons. 


Fig.  207. 


The  mallet  shown  at  Fig.  207  is  a  common  type 
and  is  used  for  beating  mortises  or  hammering  the 
chisels.  These  mallets  are  made  in  several  forms, 
some  with  square  heads  like  the  one  shown,  or 
with  round  heads,  Fig.  2071-0,  having  flat  faces, 
and  are  often  protected  on  their  working  faces 
by  leather,  and  having  iron  hoops  driven  on  them 
to  protect  . the  working  faces  from  splintering  or 
battering  when  being  used  on  the  chisel. 

The  boring  machine,  shown  at  Fig.  208,  is  used 
for  relieving  the  mortises  of  their  cores  and  mak¬ 
ing  them  easier  to  “beat”  out  with  the  chisel  and 


158  TIMBER  FRAMING 

mallet.  This  machine  can  be  adjusted  for  angle 
boring  as  well  as  vertical.  A  loose  auger  is  also 
shown.  Generally  four  augers  of  various  sizes 
are  sold  with  each  machine. 

Hand  saws  will  be  found  very  useful,  the  cross¬ 
cut,  as  shown  at  Fig.  209,  for  cutting  the  shoulders, 
and  the  rip-saw  for  cutting  the  tenons,  and  uses 
for  both  will  be  found  in  much  other  work  about 
a  frame  building  besides  shoulders  and  tenons. 


Fig.  207^. 


The  long  cross-cut  saw  is  an  indispensable  tool 
to  the  framer  (Fig.  210)  for  cutting  off  timber, 
cutting  shoulders  and  other  work.  It  is  scarcely 
necessarv  to  show  illustrations  of  the  other  tools 
required  by  the  framer,  as  we  may  have  occasion 
to  refer  and  illustrate  them  later  on. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


159 


Fig.  208. 


160 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


Thirty  years  ago  it  was  the  custom  in  most  of 
the  States  where  there  was  standing  timber  for 
the  framer  to  go  into  the  woods,  choose  the  tim¬ 
ber  for  his  work,  fell  it,  rough  hew  it,  and  finally 
have  it  hauled  to  the  location,  by  oxen  or  horses, 


Fig.  209. 


to  where  the  barn,  house,  or  bridge  was  to  be 
erected.  This  practice,  I  am  informed,  is  still 
continued  in  Maine  and  several  of  the  Western 
States,  but  owing  to-  the  fact  that  saw-mills  are 
so  numerous  in  wooded  districts,  capable  of  cut- 


Fig.  210. 


ting  timber  to  any  reasonable  length,  the  prac¬ 
tice  of  hewing  has  fallen  almost  into  disuse;  and 
because  of  this  fact  I  deem  it  inexpedient  to  show 
and  describe  the  various  methods  of  manufac¬ 
turing  square  timber  from  the  round. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


161 


It  is  often  necessary  to  mortise  and  tenon  round 
logs  for  rough  work,  and  to  enable  the  young  work¬ 
man  to  accomplish  this  I  show,  at  Fig.  211,  a  sim¬ 
ple  method  of  finding  the  lines  for  this  kind  of 
work.  The  illustration  shows  a  round  stick  of 
timber,  with  chalk  lines  oo  and  RR  struck  on  two 
sides  of  it.  These  lines  are  first  laid  out  on  the 
pattern  x,  as  shown,  from  which  they  are  trans¬ 
ferred  to  some  point  on  the  timber,  as  nearly  the 
center  of  its  cross  section  as  possible  at  each  end 
of  the  stick  and  as  plumb  from  the  center  as  can 
be  obtained.  The  pattern  x  which  is  formed  of 


two  boards — any  reasonable  length — nailed  to¬ 
gether  exactly  at  right  angles  to  each  other,  with 
the  ends  cut  off  square,  must  then  have  a  line 
drawn  on  both  its  faces,  as  shown  at  P  P.  The 
pattern  is  then  laid  on  the  timber,  the  top  line 
being  made  to  correspond  with  the  lower  line  on 
the  pattern.  From  this  lower  line,  the  second 
chalk  line  on  the  side  of  the  timber  should  be 
struck.  The  end  of  the  pattern  forms  a  square, 
and  if  the  timber  is  cut  off  on  the  lines  of  the  end 
of  the  pattern,  that  end  will  be  at  right  angles 
with  the  axis  of  the  timber. 


162 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


Mortises  and  tenons  may  be  laid  off  from  the 
chalk  lines  by  measurements  as  may  readilv  be 
seen.  Lines  drawn  across  the  mortises  by  aid  of 
the  pattern  wall  be  at  right  angles  to  their  sides; 
the  tenons  may  be  laid  off  in  the  same  manner, 
and  by  correct  measurement  made  so  as  to  fit  into 
the  mortises  snug  and  tight.  If  it  is  desirable  to 
“draw-bore”  this  work,  it  may  be  done  by  a  proper 
use  of  the  pattern  by  pinking  a  hole  through  it 
where  the  draw  pin  is  to  pass  through  the  mor¬ 
tise  and  tenon.  If  a  square  bearing  is  required 
for  the  shoulders  at  the  tenons,  it  may  be  readily 
done  by  squaring  across  the  mortise,  using  the 
pattern  for  the  purpose. 

This,  perhaps,  is  all  the  information  on  the 
subject  of  round  timbers  the  ordinary  workman 
will  ever  require,  but  should  he  require  more  he 
should  have  no  trouble  in  getting  through  with 
his  work,  as  the  foregoing  contains  the  whole 
principle  of  working  round  timber.  First,  the 
board  pattern  as  described,  then  line  up  the  tim¬ 
ber  with  straight  chalk  lines,  and  the  whole  sys¬ 
tem  is  opened  up,  so  that  any  wideawake  work¬ 
man  can  manage  the  rest. 

In  working  square  timber,  it  is  always  necessary 
to  have  all  points  of  junction  square  and  “out  of 
wind,”  or  out  of  “twist”  as  some  workmen  call 
it.  To  take  timber  out  of  wind  is  quite  a  simple 
process — when  you  know  how — and  to  “know 
how”  is  a  matter  only  of  a  few  moments’  thought 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


163 


and  experience.  The  tools  required  to  do  this 
depend  very  much  on  the  amount  of  “wind”  or 
“twist”  the  timber  may  have.  If  a  large  quantity 
has  to  be  taken  off,  as  shown  at  Fig.  212,  it  will 
require  an  ordinary  chopping  axe  and  a  broad  axe ; 


Fig.  212. 


the  first  to  lightly  score  or  chip,  and  the  last  to 
finish  the  work  smoothly.  Sometimes  a  jack  plane 
is  used  to  finish  the  timber  nicely  when  good  clean 
work  is  required.  The  winding  sticks  or  ‘  ‘  batts  ’  ’ 
are  placed  on  the  timber  as  shown  at  Fig.  213, 


Fig.  213. 


which  gives  an  idea  of  the  amount  of  wood  that 
must  be  removed  before  the  timber  will  have  a 
fair  plane  surface.  The  manner  of  using  the 
“batts”  or  winding  sticks  is  shown  at  Fig.  214, 
where  by  sighting  across  the  tops  of  the  sticks  the 
amount  of  winding  can  be  easily  detected. 

The  winding  “batts,”  which  are  parallel  in 
width,  are  placed  across  the  wood  (see  Fig.  213), 


164 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


and  has  the  effect  of  multiplying  the  error  to  the 
length  of  the  sticks.  For  this  reason  it  is  as  well 
to  make  the  sticks  1  ft.  6  in.  to  1  ft.  8  in.  long.  To 
insure  accuracy  in  long  pieces  of  wood,  the  wind¬ 
ing  “batts”  should  be  moved  to  two  or  three  dif¬ 
ferent  positions  down  the  length  of  the  wood  and 
the  straight-edge  used  lengthwise. 


\ 


Fig.  214. 


It  is  not  necessary  to  use  the  winding  “batts” 
on  either  of  the  other  surfaces  of  the  wood,  as  the 
face  edge  is  made  at  right  angles  to  the  face  side, 
bringing  into  use  the  try-square  and  straight-edge. 
The  other  two  surfaces  are  planed  true  to  the 
gauge  lines,  which  are  put  on  parallel  to  the  first 
two  surfaces.  The  writer  has  two  of  these  wind¬ 
ing  “laths”  which  he  made  for  himself  over  fifty 
years  ago;  they  were  made  for  bridge  work  and 
are  made  of  black  cherry,  and  are  as  true  to-day 
as  when  they  were  first  made. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


165 


In  preparing  timber  for  framing,  it  is  not  neces¬ 
sary  that  the  whole  timber  be  made  to  line,  as  this 
often  entails  a  great  deal  of  extra  labor.  The 
timber  may  be  “spotted”  or  “plumbed”  or 
“squared”  at  the  points  where  girts,  braces,  studs 
or  other  timbers  join  the  main  timber.  The  object 
of  this  is  to  make  a  proper  surface  for  the  shoul¬ 
ders  of  tenons  to  sit  against.  This,  however,  may 
be  very  much  assisted  by  adopting  the  following- 
rules  and  making  winding  “batts”  to  suit  the 
work. 

f:*  ~  ' 

CM 

r* - — 

CM 

Fig.  215. 


The  method,  in  full,  may  be  described  as  follows : 
Referring  to  the  illustrations,  Fig.  215,  shows  what 
is  called  the  wind  batt.  In  taking  the  wind  out 
of  a  timber,  two  wind  batts  are  required.  This 
wind  batt  consists  of  a  piece  of  board  y2  by  4  in. 
and  about  18  in.  long.  The  edges  of  the  batt  must 
be  made  parallel  to  each  other.  Then  a  line  is 
drawn  down  the  center,  leaving  2  inches  on  each 
side  of  the  line,  as  shown  in  the  sketch.  The  brad 
awl  is  then  stuck  through  the  bottom  half  for  the 
purpose  of  fastening  to  the  end  of  the  timber.  The 
wind  batts  are  then  stuck  on  the  ends  of  the  piece 
of  timber  as  shown  in  Fig.  217  of  the  sketches, 
half  the  batt  projecting  above  the  timber.  The 


166 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


operator  then  sights  over  the  upper  edges  of  the 
batts  and  moves  either  end  until  the  edges  coincide. 
He  then  takes  the  scratch  awl  and  marks  across  the 
bottom  edge  of  the  batts  at  each  end  of  the  tim¬ 
ber,  as  shown  in  Fig.  218.  This  completes  one 
side.  The  rest  is  easy,  as  in  the  other  side  the 


Fig.  216. 


wind  is  taken  out  by  means  of  a  steel  square,  as 
indicated  in  Fig.  217.  Place  the  inside  edge  of  the 
tongue  of  the  square  even  with  the  line  made  by 
the  wind  batt,  the  outside  edge  of  the  blade  being 
even  with  the  smallest  place  on  the  outside  of  the 


Fig.  217. 


timber.  Mark  with  a  scratch  awl  down  inside  of 
the  blade.  Move  the  square  up  2  inches  on  the 
timber  and  mark  through  to  the  top  of  the  timber. 
The  latter  is  then  out  of  wind  and  the  operator 
will  proceed  to  line  it,  as  shown  in  Fig.  216,  which 
represents  a  stick  of  timber  with  the  wind  taken 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


167 


out  and  lined.  Stick  the  scratch  awl  in  the  end  of 
the  timber  at  the  point  where  the  plumb  lines 
cross  each  other,  the  awl  being  through  the  small 
loop  in  the  line.  All  four  sides  of  the  timber  may 
be  lined  without  moving  the  scratch  awl.  In  tak¬ 
ing  the  wind  out  of  timber  in  this  manner  con¬ 
siderable  time  is  saved,  as  one  man  can  take  it 
out  of  wind  and  line  it  without  other  help. 


rig.  218.  g.  219. 


-From  another  source  (Carpentry  and  Building) 
I  get  the  following  directions  for  preparing  tim¬ 
ber  for  framing  from  the  pen  of  a  practical  framer 
who  seems  to  know  pretty  well  of  what  he  is  talk¬ 
ing  and  starts  off  by  saying:  “The  first  step  in 
the  process  is  to  scaffold  your  timber  so  that  it 
will  lie  straight  and  as  nearly  level  as  possible, 
and  so  that  you  and  your  men  who  follow  may 
work  over  it  in  a  comfortable  position.  That  done, 
suppose,  as  in  Fig.  220,  we  have  a  corner  post  to 
lay  out  which  is  8%  by  8V3  by  16  feet,  and  from 


168 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


% 

shoulder  to  shoulder  of  tenons  is  15  feet.  I  would 
select  the  two  best  faces  that  give  nearest  a 
straight  corner,  taking  a  corner  that  is  hollow 
rather  than  one  that  is  full.  Then  I  set  one  square 
on  across  the  best  face,  far  enough  from  the  end 
for  a  tenon,  and  measure  15  feet  towards  the  other 
end,  making  an  irregular  mark  across  the  face  at 
this  point  with  a  heavy  pencil  as  I  did  at  the  other 
end.  I  then  set  my  second  square  on  this  mark 
and  look  over  the  squares.  Just  here  comes  in 
the  nice  point  in  unwinding  timber.  If  at  the  first 
glance  over  the  squares  they  should  be  very  much 
in  wind,  then  adjust  the  difference  at  each  end  by 


dividing.  But  this  rule  does  not  always  work,  for 
the  wind  may  all  be  in  the  last  two  or  three  feet 
of  the  stick — more  likely  than  not  at  the  butt  end. 
You  will  soon  learn  by  looking  over  the  faces  of 
the  timber  to  locate  the  cause  or  place  of  the  wind. 
You  will  soon  learn  also  that  it  requires  but  a 
slight  change  to  adjust  the  squares  so  that  there 
may  be  little  cutting  necessary  in  making  the 
plumb  spot.  But  to  go  on:  With  your  adze  or 
chisel  (I  mostly  used  a  3-inch  slick)  level  off 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


169 


across  the  face  of  the  timber  as  much  as  you  think 
will  be  necessary  to  bring  the  lines  right  in  the 
end.  While  at  this  end  of  the  timber  spot  the  side 
face,  then  go  to  the  other  end  and  unwind  with 
the  spot  already  completed.  After  making  the 
plumb  spot  on  the  side  face  take  your  scratch  awl 
and’  point  with  2-in.  face  each  way  from  your 
plumb  spot,  going  around  the  four  faces  of  the 
timber.  Line  through  these  points  and  work  from 
the  lines  in  laying  out. 

Suppose  we  have  a  cap  sill  to  frame,  full  length, 
say  10  by  10  by  46  feet  long  and  with  the  same 
bearings,  bays  each  14  feet  and  the  floor  18  feet 
wide,  all  as  represented  by  Fig.  221 ;  I  start  at 
one  end  and  measure  through,  making  at  the  prin¬ 
cipal  points  (14  plus  18  plus  14  feet)  with  irregular 
pencil  lines,  selecting,  of  course,  the-best  face  for 
the  outside.  Then  I  test  the  timber  through  from 
end  to  end,  looking  over  the  squares  before  start¬ 
ing  to  unwind.  If  the  squares  line  up  well  at 
first  glance,  then  I  go  to  work  at  one  end  and  un¬ 
wind  through.  If  not  then  I  try  through  at  the 
other  points.  After  deciding  how  and  where  to 
start,  the  process  is  similar  to  that  of  the  post,  and 
in  like  manner  wmuld  I  go  about  unwinding  all  the 
timbers  of  a  frame. 

From  what  I  have  just  said  you  will  observe 
that  my  rule  for  spotting  timber  was,  at  the  shoul¬ 
ders  of  posts  and  at  principal  bearing  of  long 
timbers.  Following  this  rule  you  will  have  true 


170 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


points  where  the  most  particular  framing  is  to 
be  done. 

Sometimes,  however,  when  I  come  to  the  short 
posts  in  the  under  frame,  where  several  would 


be  of  the  same  length,  including  tenons,  and  a 
man  at  each  end  with  square  and  pencil,  as  in  Fig. 
222,  would  unwind  them,  marking  along  the  square 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


171 


across  the  end  of  post,  allowing  2  in.  for  face. 
Square  from  this  line  on  the  same  hand  at  each 
end  with  2-inch  face.  Lining  from  these  points 
we  have  the  posts  ready  for  laying  out,  as  shown 
in  Fig.  223. 


Fig.  223. 


Some  framers  think  that  time  is  saved  by  this 
method,  but  I  doubt  it,  for  usually  there  is  one 
side  extra  at  each  tenon  to  size,  and  I  am  inclined 
to  advise  that  spotting  in  the  manner  first  ex¬ 
plained  is  the  better  way. 


1 

1 

10  X  10' 

1 

••  *./ 
10  X  10, 

tr 

Fig.  224.  Fig.  225. 


The  two  figures  here  given  explain  what  I  have 
just  said  about  the  extra  sizing.  Fig.  224  is  the 
end  of  a  post  framed,  where  the  plumb  spot  was 
made  at  the  shoulder.  Fig.  225  that  of  a  post 
where  the  wind  was  taken  out  by  the  last  process 
described,  in  which  case,  unless  the  timber  was 
exceptionally  well  dressed,  there  was  overwood 
and  sizing  as  shown. 


172 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


In  ordinary  framing  it  was  not  necessary  to  cut 
the  plumb  spot  fully  across  the  face  of  the  tim¬ 
ber — just  far  enough  for  the  bearing  to  steady  the 
square — 2  or  3  inches.  If,  however,  you  are  re¬ 
quired  to  do  a  very  nice  job  of  framing,  and  are 
paid  for  doing  it,  then  cut  your  plumb  spot  fully 
across  the  face  of  the  timber  and  choose  the  full 
instead  of  the  hollow  side  for  face.  Line  the  over¬ 
wood  on  both  corners  and  counter  hew.  If  the 
timber  requires  two  faces,  as  for  a  post  or  wall 
plate,  then  turn  the  new  face  up,  line  and  counter 
hew  the  other  side.  That  done,  mark  your  points, 
and  line  for  laying  out. 

What  do  I  use  for  lining!  Chalk  is  good,  but 
chalk  washes  off,  and  in  the  showery  spring  time, 
the  barn  builder’s  season,  I  generally  used  Vene¬ 
tian  red  and  water  in  an  old  tin,  the  “boss”  hold¬ 
ing  the  tin  and  line  reel  with  a  crotclied  stick  over 
the  line,  while  one  of  the  “boys”  carried  the  line 
to  the  other  end  of  the  timber  as  it  paid  out. 
Under  favorable  circumstances,  with  one  wetting, 
I  was  able  to  line  the  timber  around  on  all 
sides. 

There  is  one  point  worthy  of  notice,  and  in 
favor  of  the  method  of  locating  the  plumb  spot 
as  given  above:  It  serves  as  a  check  against  mis¬ 
takes  in  measurements.  The  process  of  laying 
out,  as  practiced  by  myself,  was  to  unwind  the 
timber  as  I  have  shown.  Then  starting  at  one 
end,  scribe  the  extreme  point  and  lay  off  the 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


173 


work  there  and  work  back  again  on  the  inter¬ 
mediate  work.  Coming  out  right  was  almost  proof 
that  the  work  was  correct,  for,  as  you  will  readily 
see,  the  timber  had  then  been  measured  three 
times.” 

These  are  excellent  directions  and  are  equally 
applicable  to  sawn  as  to  hewn  timbers.  The  work¬ 
man  will,  now,  I  trust,  be  fully  able  to  understand 
the  importance  of  taking  his  timber  out  of  wind, 
and  the  proper  way  to  do  it. 


Fig.  226. 


The  next  thing  to  be  considered  are  as  what  are 
known  as  “witness  marks.”  These  marks  are  in¬ 
tended  to  inform  the  men  who  beat  out  the  mor¬ 
tises,  saw  the  tenons  and  clean  up  the  gains,  and 
finish  up  the  work  generally  after  it  has  been  set 


174 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


out  by  the  boss  framer.  There  are  several  meth¬ 
ods  of  witnessing  work  by  aid  of  the  scratch  awl 
which  I  show  herewith,  in  Fig.  226;  but,  besides 
these,  the  work  is  sometimes  witnessed  with  a 
pencil — blue,  black  or  red;  the  black  being  used 
for  mortises,  the  blue  for  tenons,  and  the  red  for 
gains  or  squared  surfaces. 

The  end  of  the  mortises  and  shoulders  of  tenons 
mav  be  witnesses  in  the  same  manner,  as  shown 
in  Fig.  226,  using  the  pencil  in  lieu  of  scratch  awl. 


Fig.  227. 


In  this  diagram  the  letter  G  represents  a  gain, 
M  is  a  mortise  and  T  is  a  tenon,  the  short  diagonal 
marks  w  in  the  upper  piece  being  the  witness 
marks.  The  sketch  shows  four  different  methods 
of  witness  marking  which  are  employed  by  most 
workmen,  while  numerous  combinations  of  these 
four  methods  are  also  often  used. 

The  best  of  these  witness  marks  are  those  used 
on  the  timber  marked  F,  though  it  has  the  dF 
advantage  of  being  cut  away  when  the  mortise  ifl 
beaten  or  the  tenon  cut,  so  that  should  a  blunder 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


175 


be  made  in  the  length  of  mortise  or  shoulder  of 
tenon,  it  will  be  difficult  to  place  the  fault  on  the 
right  person. 


1 

pM 

a 

\ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

Fig.  228. 


Another  method  of  witnessing,  and  a  very  good 
one  too,  is  shown  in  Fig.  227.  T  shows  the  tenon, 
M  a  mortise,  A  a  gain,  and  H  a  halving.  In  this 
case  it  will  be  almost  impossible  to  get  astray  if 
the  workmen  following  the  boss  framer  will  only 
make  himself  acquainted  with  the  system. 


In  Fig.  228  I  show  a  method  of  witnessing  a 
splice,  and  this,  I  think,  will  be  readily  understood. 
Another  splice,  with  the  manner  of  making  it,  is 
shown  at  Fig.  229,  also  the  points  where  holes  may 
be  bored  to  receive  bolts  when  such  are  to  be 
bolted  together  for  strength.  The  direction  of 
the  bolts  is  also  shown.  At  Fig.  230  I  show  how 


176 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


to  make  witness  mark  to  cut  a  shoulder  on  a  brace. 
This  brace  shows  two  bevels,  simply  to  indicate 
that  no  matter  what  the  bevels  may  be  the  marks 
show  the  shoulders.  The  letter  C  is  the  shorter 
bevel.  The  lines  A  A  marked  off  the  sketch,  Fig. 
231,  show  how  a  line  or  scratch  made  by  mistake 
may  be  marked  so  that  it  may  be  known  as  a  line 
not  to  be  used. 


Fig.  230. 


These  witness  marks  are  ample  to  instruct  the 
workman  in  their  uses,  and  though  the  examples 
given  do  not  nearly  cover  the  whole  ground  where 
such  marks  are  required,  they  show  the  system 
and  the  keen  workman  will  apply  them  in  their 
proper  places  whenever  it  is  necessary. 


Mortises  and  tenons  are  usually  laid  out  with  the 
steel  square,  but  it  is  not  the  best  or  speediest 
way,  though  the  square  is  always  at  hand  and 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


177 


ready  for  use,  and  without  a  knowledge  of  its  use 
for  this  purpose  the  workman  will  not  be  fully 
equipped  for  laying  out  a  frame.  Following  an 
authority  on  the  subject  of  laying  out  work  by  the 
steel  square  “the  ends  of  the  mortise  are  first 
struck  as  indicated  at  A  and  B,  Fig.  232,  and 
while  the  square  is  in  the  position  indicated  the 
mark  C  is  made  for  the  working  side  of  the  mor¬ 
tise,  which  is  always  the  narrower  side  unless  the 


two  are  equal.  In  practice  it  is  best  to  mark  the 
cut  off  at  the  end  of  the  timber  first,  or  if  it  does 
not  need  cutting  off,  place  the  square  over  the  end 
of  the  stick,  and  mark  back  along  the  blade  the 
l1/!-,  2  or  3  inches  required  for  the  shoulder.  This 
makes  sure  that  there  is  no  projecting  corners 
to  give  trouble  later  on. 

If  a  tenon  is  being  struck  the  same  method  is 
followed,  going  entirely  around  the  stick  but  work¬ 
ing  in  both  directions  from  the  face  corner.  The 


178 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


ends  of  the  mortise  or  shoulder  of  the  tenon  being 
thus  treated,  the  sides  are  marked  by  reversing  the 
square,  placing  the  inside  of  the  blade  at  E,  Fig. 
233,  fair  with  the  mark  C  previously  made,  and 
taking  the  same  distance — in  this  case  2  inches — 
on  the  tongue  of  the  square,  as  shown  at  B.  Now 
by  holding  the  square  firmly  with  the  thumb  and 
fingers  of  the  left  hand  both  sides  of  the  tenon 
can  be  marked,  but  great  care  is  necessary  to  pre- 


Fig.  233. 


vent  the  slipping  of  the  square.  If  there  is  any 
wane  on  the  stick  it  is  hard  to  tell  when  the  mark 
D  is  exaetlv  in  line  with  the  vertical  face  of  the 
timber,  and  this  matter  must  be  determined  by 
sighting  down  the  side  of  the  stick.  It  is  also 
necessary  to  drop  the  blade  of  the  square  a  little 
further,  as  at  B,  when  squaring  across  a  “wany 
stick.” 

In  every  heavy  timber  framing  a  bridge  fram¬ 
ing  steel  square  could  be  employed.  These  have 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


179 


a  blade  three  inches  wide  and  a  tongue  one  and 
a  half  inches  wide.  The  blade  is  used  to  lay  out 
mortises  and  tenons  of  three-incli  dimensions. 
There  is  a  slot  one  inch  wide  cut  down  the  center 
of  the  blade,  the  slot  is  twenty-one  inches  long 
and  it  may  be  used  on  one  inside  edge  to  make  a 
two-inch  mortise  or  tenon;  this  is  done  by  using 
one  outside  edge  and  one  inside  edge.  These 
squares  are  made  by  Sargent  &  Co.,  of  New  York, 
and  cost  from  $2.50  to  $5.00  each.  The  squares 
are  very  handy  for  bridge  builders  and  for  fram¬ 
ing  all  kinds  of  heavy  timber. 


A  kind  of  templet  or  guide  is  made  use  of  some¬ 
times,  for  laying  out  work,  it  is  much  handier,  and 
easier  to  work  with  than  the  square,  and  will  aid 
in  laying  out  work  much  more  rapidly.  These 
templets  are  made  in  both  wood  and  metal.  They 
are  hinged  at  the  angle  as  shown  in  the  sketches 
herewith,  so  they  may  work  easily  over  wany  edges 
or  can  be  folded  together  and  stowed  away  in  a 
tool  chest. 


180 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


Where  there  is  much  framing  of  a  like  character 
to  do,  it  is  always  best  to  make  a  sheet  iron  templet, 
as  the  rubbing  of  the  scratch  awl  against  the  work¬ 
ing  edges  of  a  wooden  brass  bound  one  will  wear 
away  the  surface  and  the  tenons  and  mortises  will 
not  be  the  correct  sizes. 

Mr.  Hobart,  in  Carpentry  and  Building ,  de¬ 
scribes  these  templets — the  wooden  ones — and 
adds  a  fair  description  of  them  and  the  way  to 
use  them,  and  I  reproduce  in  brief  a  portion  of 
his  article  on  the  subject:  “The  tool  may  be  seen 
in  two  positions  on  the  squared  timber  at  Figs.  234 
and  235.  The  tool  is  made  of  wTell  seasoned  wood 
14  in.  thick,  three  thicknesses  being  glued  up  to 
form  a  board  8  inches  wide  by  24  inches  long. 
The  boards  are  then  mitred  together  lengthwise, 
as  shown,  and  a  pair  of  ornamental  brass  hinges 
put  on,  these  being  clearly  indicated  in  the 
sketches.  Each  part  of  the  board  is  then  notched 
into  four  steps  of  6  inches  each,  being  made  1 C, 
3,  6  and  8  inches  respectively.  The  other  side  of 
the  tool  is  divided  into  4,  6  and  8  inch  steps,  each 
6  inches  long.  If  much  heavy  work  is  to  be  laid 
out  it  will  pay  to  make  one  side  1  inch  wider, 
thus  securing  1 1  3,  6  and  9  inch  steps  on  that 

side.  The  notched  edges  of  the  board  are  finished 
with  a  great  deal  of  exactness,  and  after  cutting 
a  little  scant  the  edge  is  bound  with  a  heavy  strip 
of  sheet  brass,  which  is  shaped  and  screwed  to 
the  marking  edge.  The  marking  edge,  and  the 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


181 


end  as  well,  is  marked  off  in  inches  and  quarters, 
the  same  as  a  framing  square,  and  this  proves  a 
great  convenience  when  using  the  tool. 

In  order  to  lay  out  a  mortise,  slide  the  tool 
along  until  the  end  comes  flush  with  the  longest 
corner;  then  mark  the  end  of  the  mortise,  as  at 
E  of  Fig.  234.  At  the  same  time  mark  the  other 
end  of  the  mortise,  F,  Fig.  234;  then  slide  hack 
the  marker  and  strike  that  line  after  having  first 
struck  the  line  E.  Next  reverse  the  tool  and  select 


the  width  of  shoulder  required — 2  inches  in  this 
case — and  mark  alongside  the  board  on  the  tim¬ 
ber.  This  fixes  one  side  of  the  mortise  or  tenon, 
and  a  mark  alongside  the  right  width  of  tool,  H, 
Fig.  235,  finishes  that  mortise  in  very  quick  time.” 
Apart  from  this  description,  the  workman  will 
find  in  making  use  of  this  tool  many  places  where 
it  can  be  employed  to  advantage.  If  the  whole 
tool  was  constructed  of  metal,  it  would  not  cost 
any  more  than  if  made  of  wood,  as  described  in 


182 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


the  foregoing,  and  it  would  be  neater,  lighter, 
much  more  compact,  and  would  last  for  all  time. 

While  it  is  true  that  this  templet  is  a  great  help 
in  rapid  framing  and  while  in  some  cases  where 
the  timber  is  wany  or  lacking  on  the  arrises  some¬ 
thing  of  the  kind  is  necessary.  Where  the  writer 
has  met  with  wany  timber  he  has  often  tacked  a 
planed  board  on  the  side  of  the  timber  to  be  worked 
keeping  the  upper  edge  even  with  the  top  of  the 
timber,  then  the  square  can  be  used  for  making 
over  as  the  board  forms  a  go'od  surface  to  work 
the  square  from.  When  the  templet  is  used,  the 
necessity  of  the  board  is  done  'away  with,  as  the 
vertical  portion  of  it  takes  the  place  of  the  board. 
The  method  of  using  the  square  for  cutting  raft¬ 
ers,  braces,  and  other  angular  work,  has  been 
shown  and  described  elsewhere,  so  I  drop  the  mat¬ 
ter  of  the  square  for  the  present. 

There  is  one  matter  in  framing  that  I  do  not 
think  has  ever  been  described  or  properly  illus¬ 
trated,  and  that  is  the  question  of  “boxing.”  Non¬ 
framer  may  not  know  what  the  term  “boxing” 
means;  but  every  “old  hand”  at  the  business  has, 
no  doubt,  a  vivid  recollection  of  the  term  and  its 
uses.  “Boxing”  in  framing  may  be  described  as 
preparing  a  true  real  square  with  the  jaws  of  the 
mortise  for  the  shoulders  of  the  tenon  to  butt 
solidly  against.  To  accomplish  this  often  requires 
the  removal  of  portions  of  the  timber  before  a 
flat  square  surface  is  found,  and  this  may  reduce 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


183 


the  thickness  of  the  timber  operated  upon.  If 
we  suppose  four  or  five  posts  on  the  side  of  a 
building,  and  these  posts  are  supposed  to  be  12  x 
12  inches  in  section  and  in  preparing  these  posts 
to  receive  the  tenons  it  is  necessary  to  remove 
over  the  face  of  each  mortise  one-quarter  of  an 
inch  or  more,  and  the  girts  or  connecting  timbers 
have  their  Shoulders  cut  to  suit  the  12-inch  posts, 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  length  of  the  building  at 
the  line  of  girts  will  be  less  than  intended.  If 
forced  into  mortises  made  the  proper  distance 
apart  in  the  sills,  the  outside  posts  will  not  be 
plumb  and  it  will  be  found  impossible  to  make  the 
plates  fit  in  place,  as  the  mortises  on  the  ends  will 
be  found  too  far  apart,  and  this  would  lead  to  all 
sorts  of  trouble  and  vexation.  In  boxing,  we  sup¬ 
pose  the  posts  to  be,  say  ll1/^  inches  instead  of 
12  inches.  This  allows  half  an  inch  for  boxing, 
and  this  necessitates  the  girt  between  each  set  of 
posts,  to  be  cut  one  inch  longer  between  shoulders 
than  if  no  boxing  was  prepared.  In  cases  where 
posts  are  pierced  on  both  faces  and  boxed,  the  post 
where  the  tenons  enter,  if  directly  opposite,  may 
have  to  be  reduced  to  11  inches  and  must  be  ac¬ 
counted  for  on  that  basis.  The  young  framer  must 
be  particular  about  the  boxing  and  the  necessary 
reduction  of  timbers  when  laying  off  his  lengths 
of  girts  or  bracing  timbers,  if  not  he  will  be  sure 
to  get  into  trouble  or  botch  the  job. 


184 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


Fig.  236. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


185 


I  show,  at  Fig.  236,  how  the  boxing  is  done, 
and  how  to  lengthen  the  timber  between  shoulders 
to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  case.  G  shows 
the  girt  where  it  is  boxed  into  the  post  P,  and 


t- 

CO 

<N 

bis 

fa 


F  S  shows  the  sill  and  plate  with  the  tenons  T  T 
relished  for  the  shorter  mortises.  The  brace  B 
shows  how  it  is  butted  at  both  ends  against  the 
boxing  in  the  post  and  girt.  The  points,  or  ‘  ‘  toes,  ’  ’ 


186 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


of  the  brace  are  squared  off  so  as  to  rest  against 
the  half  inch  shoulder  which  is  caused  by  the 
boxing. 

At  Fig.  237  I  show  a  post  boxed  on  both  sides 
for  braces;  also  a  scarfing  which  ties  two  beams 
together,  the  joints  of  the  beams  being  directly 
over  the  center  of  the  post.  It  will  be  noticed  the 


Fig.  238. 


scarfing  block  grapples  both  beams  and  is  bolted 
at  both  ends.  The  braces  and  post  are  draw-bored 
and  pinned  as  shown  by  the  round  dots  on  the 
diagram.  The  scarfing  block  or  bolster,  in  cases 
of  this  kind  where  there  is  a  heavy  weight  above  to 
carry,  should  be  of  hardwood,  oak,  maple  or  other 
suitable  strong  wood. 

The  next  illustration,  Fig.  238,  shows  a  double 
boxed  post  with  braces  carrying  a  scarfed  beam. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


187 


The  tenon  on  the  top  of  the  post  passes  through 
the  splice  holding  the  two  beams  together.  It  is 
drawbored  and  pinned  together  through  both 
splices. 

Fig.  239  exhibits  another  boxed  post,  braces, 
splice  and  beams.  The  post  is  double  pinned  to 
both  beams,  which  are  bolted  together.  These  two 
illustrations,  Figs.  238  and  239,  are  good  examples 


of  spliced  beam  support,  and  are  often  made  use 
of  in  warehouses,  barns  and  other  similar  struc¬ 
tures. 

At  F’g.  240  I  show  the  usual  manner  of  framing 
a  barn  about  30  x  40  feet,  and  16  or  18  feet  high. 
Fig.  241  exhibits  a  portion  of  the  end  of  the  build¬ 
ing,  with  rafters,  purlins  and  collar  beam.  The 
center  post  shown  is  supposed  to  be  boxed  on 


188 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


189 


both  sides,  but  the  drawing  is  of  too  small  a  scale 
to  show  the  boxing  on  either  post,  sill  or  plate. 

The  timbers  for  a  building  like  this  are  usually 
about  the  following  dimensions :  Sills,  12  in.  x  12 


Fig.  241. 


in. ;  posts  and  large  girders,  10  in.  x  10  in. ;  plates 
and  girder  over  drive  doors,  8  in.  x  10  in. ;  purlin 
plates,  6  in.  x  6  in. ;  purlin  posts  and  small  girders, 
6  in.  x  8  in.;  braces,  4  in.  x  4  in.;  rafters,  collar 


190 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


beams,  etc.,  2  in.  x  6  in.  These  dimensions  may, 
of  course,  be  changed  to  suit  circumstances  and 
conditions.  All  mortises  in  the  heavy  timber  may 
be  three  inches  and  of  such  length  as  the  sizes  of 
the  timber  -will  allow.  Di'aw-bore  holes  for  pine 
may  be  from  1  in.  to  ll/->  in.  in  diameter,  but 
should  never  exceed  the  latter  size.  Two  draw 
pins  may  be  used  in  mortise  and  tenons  when  the 
tenon  is  8  inches  or  more  wide.  Less  than  that 
width,  one  pin  will  be  quite  enough.  In  laying  out 
draw-bore  holes  have  them  two  inches  from  the 
side  of  the  mortise,  then  on  the  tenons  they  should 
be  an  eighth  or  a  quarter  of  an  inch  less  than  two 
inches  from  the  shoulder,  then  if  they  are  just  two 
inches  from  the  boxing  or  the  face  of  the  mortise, 
the  pins,  when  driven  in,  will  draw  the  shoulders 
snug  up  to  the  bearing.  In  making  draw-bore 
holes  care  must  be  taken  not  to  make  a  mistake 
and  place  the  hole  where,  when  the  pin  is  driven 
home,  the  joint  will  be  forced  open  instead  of 
drawn  closer.  A  little  thought  when  the  holes  are 
laid  out  will  prevent  the  hole  from  being  a  push- 
bore  instead  of  a  draw-bore. 

The  braces  are  framed  on  a  regular  3-foot  run ; 
that  is,  the  brace  mortise  in  the  girder  is  3  feet 
from  the  shoulder  of  the  girder,  and  the  brace 
mortise  in  the  post  is  3  feet  below  the  girder  mor¬ 
tise. 

In  this  building  the  roof  is  designed  to  have  a 
third  pitch;  that  is,  the  peak  of  the  roof  would  be 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


191 


one-third  the  width  of  the  building  higher  than  the 
top  of  the  plates,  provided  the  rafters  were  closely 
fitted  to  the  plates  at  their  outer  surfaces. 

In  order  to  give  strength  to  the  mortises  for 
the  upper  end  girders,  these  girders  are  framed 
into  the  corner  post  several  inches  below  the  shoul¬ 
ders  of  the  post,  say  4  inches ;  the  thickness  of 
the  plates  being  8  inches  it  will  be  perceived  that 
the  dotted  line,  AB,  drawn  from  the  outer  and 
upper  corner  of  one  plate  to  the  outer  and  upper 
corner  of  the  other  is  just  1  ft.  higher  than  the 
upper  surface  of  the  girder. 

The  purlin  plates  should  always  be  placed  under 
the  middle  of  the  rafters,  and  the  purlin  posts, 
being  always  framed  square  with  the  purlin  plates, 
the  bevel  at  the  foot  of  these  posts  will  always  be 
the  same  as  the  upper  end  bevel  of  the  rafters ; 
also,  the  bevel  at  each  end  of  the  gable-end  girder 
will  be  the  same,  since  the  two  girders  being 
parallel,  and  the  purlin  post  intersecting  them,  the 
length  of  the  gable-end  girder  will  be  equal  to  half 
the  width  of  the  building,  less  18  inches ;  6  inches 
being  allowed  for  half  the  thickness  of  the  purlin 
posts,  and  6  inches  more  at  each  end  for  bringing 
it  down  below  the  shoulders  of  the  posts. 

In  order  to  obtain  the  proper  length  of  the  pur¬ 
lin  posts,  examine  Fig.  241.  Let  the  point  P  rep¬ 
resent  the  middle  point  of  the  rafter,  and  let  the 
dotted  line  PO  be  drawn  square  with  AB ;  then 
will  AC  be  the  f4  of  AB,  or  iy>  feet,  and  PC,  half 


192 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


the  rise  of  the  roof,  will  be  5  feet,  and  PO  6  feet. 
The  purlin  post  being  square  with  the  rafter,  and 
PO  being  square  with  AB,  we  can  assume  that  PR 
would  he  the  rafter  of  another  roof  of  the  same 
pitch  as  this  one,  provided  PO  were  half  its  width, 
and  OR  its  rise.  This  demonstration  determines 
also  the  place  of  the  purlin  post  mortise  in  the 
girder;  for  AC  being  7^4  feet,  and  OR  being  4 
feet,  by  adding  these  together,  we  find  the  point 
R,  the  middle  of  the  mortise,  to  be  11  Yz  feet  from 
the  outside  of  the  building;  and  the  length  of  the 
mortise  being  7  Vi  inches,  the  distance  of  the  end 
of  the  mortise,  next  the  center  of  the  building,  is 
11  feet  9%  inches  from  the  outside  of  the  building. 

The  brace  of  the  purlin  post  must  next  be 
framed,  and  also  the  mortise  for  it,  one  in  the 
purlin  post  and  the  other  in  the  girder.  The 
length  of  the  brace  and  the  lower  end  bevel  of  it 
will  be  the  same  as  in  a  regular  three  feet  run; 
and  the  upper  end  bevel  would  also  be  the  same, 
provided  the  purlin  post  were  to  stand  perpendicu¬ 
lar  to  the  girder ;  but,  being  square  with  the  rafter, 
it  departs  further  and  further  from  a  perpendicu¬ 
lar,  as  the  rafter  approaches  nearer  and  nearer 
towards  a  perpendicular ;  and  the  upper  end  bevel 
of  the  brace  varies  accordingly,  approaching 
nearer  and  nearer  to  a  right  angle  as  the  bevels 
at  the  foot  of  the  post,  or,  what  is  the  same  thing, 
the  upper  end  bevel  of  the  rafter  departs  further 
and  further  from  a  right  angle.  Hence,  the  bevel 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


193 


at  the  top  of  this  brace  is  a  compound  bevel,  found 
by  adding  the  lower  end  bevel  of  the  brace  to  the 
upper  end  bevel  of  the  rafter. 

In  framing  the  mortises  for  the  purlin  post 
braces,  it  is  to  be  observed,  also,  that  if  the  purlin 
post  was  perpendicular  to  the  girder,  the  mor¬ 
tises  would  each  of  them  be  3  feet  from  the  heel 
of  the  post ;  and  the  sharper  the  pitch  of  the  roof, 
the  greater  this  distance  will  be.  Hence  the  true 
distance  on  the  girder  for  the  purlin  post  brace 
mortise  is  found  by  adding  to  3  feet  the  rise  of  the 
roof  in  running  3  feet ;  which,  in  this  pitch  of  8 
inches  to  the  foot,  is  two  feet  more,  making  5  feet, 
the  true  distance  of  the  furthest  end  of  the  mortise 
from  the  heel  of  the  purlin  post. 

The  place  in  the  purlin  post  for  the  mortise  for 
the  upper  end  of  the  brace  may  be  found  from 
the  rafter  table,  by  assuming  that  Rx  would  be 
the  rafter  of  another  roof  of  the  same  pitch  as 
this  one,  if  xy  were  half  the  width,  and  yR  the 
rise.  For  then,  since  xy  equals  3  feet,  we  should 
have  width  of  building  equal  6  feet,  rise  of  rafter, 
one-third  pitch,  gives  yR  equal  2  feet;  and  hence 
xR  would  equal  3  feet  7.26  inches,  the  true  dis¬ 
tance  of  the  upper  end  of  the  mortise  from  the 
heel  of  the  purlin  post. 

Figs.  242  and  243  are  designed  to  illustrate  the 
manner  of  finding  the  upper  end  bevel  of  purlin 
post  braces,  to  which  reference  is  made  from  the 
preceding  examples. 


194 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


In  Fig.  242,  let  AB  represent  the  extreme  length 
of  the  brace  from  toe  to  toe,  the  bevel  at  the  foot 
having  been  already  cut  at  the  proper  angle  of  45 


Fig.  242. 


degrees.  Draw  BC  at  the  top  of  the  brace,  at  the 
same  bevel ;  then  set  a  bevel  square  to  the  bevel 
of  the  upper  end  of  the  rafter,  and  add  that  bevel 
to  BC  by  placing  the  handle  of  the  square  upon 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


195 


BC  and  drawing  BD  <on  the  tongue.  This  is  the 
bevel  required. 

Fig.  243  shows  another  method  of  obtaining  the 
same  bevel.  Let  the  line  AB  represent  the  bevel 
at  the  foot  of  the  brace,  drawn  at  an  angle  of  45 
degrees.  Draw  BD  at  right  angles  with  AB,  and 
draw  BC  perpendicular  to  AB,  making  two  right- 
angled  triangles.  Then  divide  the  base  of  the 


inner  one  of  these  triangles  into  12  equal  parts 
for  the  rise  of  the  roof.  Then  place  the  bevel 
square  upon  the  bevel  AB  at  B  and  set  it  to  the 
figure  on  the  line  CD,  which  corresponds  with  the 
pitch  of  the  roof.  This  will  set  the  square  to  the 
bevel  required  for  the  top  of  the  brace.  In  this 
figure  the  bevel  is  not  marked  upon  the  brace,  but 
the  square  is  properly  set  for  a  pitch  of  8  inches 
to  the  foot,  or  a  one-third  pitch.  The  square  can 
now  be  placed  upon  the  top  of  the  brace,  and  the 


196 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


bevel  marked.  These  examples  are  taken  from 
“Bell’s  Carpentry,”  an  excellent  work  that  was 
very  popular  forty  or  fifty  years  ago  because  of 
its  reliability  and  exhaustiveness.  There  have 
been  many  improvements  in  framing,  however, 
since  this  book  was  made,  still  it  contains  some 
things  that  have  never  been  improved  on. 


One  style  of  mortise  and  tenon  must  not  be  over¬ 
looked,  which  is  often  employed  in  framing  girts 
or  girders,  and  that  is  the  “bareface  stub  tenon,” 
which  I  show  at  A  in  the  illustration  Fig.  244, 
where  it  will  be  seen  that  at  one  side  of  the  tenon 
there  is  a  shoulder.  The  other  side  not  having  a 
shoulder  is  thus  said  to  be  barefaced.  Since  it 
does  not  pass  right  through  the  post,  it  is  known 
as  a  stub  tenon.  This  form  of  tenon  is  used  where 
one  surface  of  the  girt  is  to  be  flush  with  that  of 
a  post,  the  other  side  of  the  girt  being  set  back 
from  that  of  the  post  (as  shown). 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


197 


In  Figs.  245  and  246  I  show  a  couple  of  examples 
of  mixed,  heavy  and  light  framing.  These  will 


Fig.  245. 


show  how  that  style  of  work  is  done,  and  will,  I 
am  sure,  prove  of  value  to  the  learner. 


198 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


It  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  say  a  few  words 
on  timbering  floors,  as  the  framer  is  often  called 
upon  to  cut,  frame  and  place  all  the  necessary  tim- 


Fig.  246. 


hers  for  the  purpose,  and  to  give  him  some  idea 
of  how  the  work  should  be  done  the  following  few 
illustrations  and  instructions  are  offered.  In  the 
first  part  of  this  work  I  gave  a  number  of  illus- 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


199 


trations  and  methods  of  preparing  timber  for 
floors,  so  I  will  not  now  enter  at  much  length  into 
this  subject,  but  briefly  give  a  few  examples  of 
such  work,  as  I  know  from  experience  will  prove 
of  the  greatest  value  to  the  general  workman: 


Fig.  247. 


A  general  system  of  floor  framing  in  timber  alone 
is  shown  in  Fig.  247,  the  whole  floor  being  of  wood. 
Fig.  248  exhibits  a  timber  floor  intended  for  a 
double  surface.  The  upper  series  carry  the  ceiling 
joists.  At  Fig.  249  I  show  how  a  framed  floor, 


200 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


partly  of  wood  and  partly  of  iron,  is  usually  put 
together  in  many  localities.  In  Chicago  and  other 
places 'there  is  often  a  departure  from  this  method, 
which  is  not  always  for  the  best.  A  double  iron 


_  ,j—  — j 

r+- 

i  ■ 

■ 

■  ■  i 

- 1  < - —  ...  - j 

Wol  pdf  Ceibnq 

- Double  Timber  Door 

• 

’'•"tv" 

Fig.  248. 


and  timber  floor  is  shown  in  Fig.  250,  while  a  coal 
breeze  or  concrete  floor  with  necessary  steel  gird¬ 
ers  is  shown  at  Fig.  251.  Fig.  252  shows  a  strongly 
reinforced  concrete  fireproof  floor,  capable  of  bear¬ 
ing  great  weights. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


201 


Fig.  249.  Fig.  250. 


202 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


A  few  hints  here  regarding  timbering  floors, 
over  and  above  what  has  been  said,  may  not  be 

7 

out  of  place : 


Hoor  on  b 


"*  L-  — 

- h - 

XpKt  tSCLlt 


Z  O"  »  3  0  •  »  o' 


Colvc-trceic  and  Iron  Floor 


Fig.  251. 


AVhen  ceilings  are  fixed  direct  to  bridging  joists 
that  are  thicker  than  2 y2  in.,  brandering  fillets 
should  be  nailed  on  their  bottom  edges  to  fix  the 
lathing  to. 

Ceiling  joists  in  framed  floors  should  be  fixed 
to  the  binders.  Notching  or  mortising  the  binder 
weakens  it  considerably. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


203 


Keep  the  ceiling  joists  i/2  in-  below  the  binder 
and  counter  lath  the  edge  of  the  latter  to  afford 
key  for  plaster. 

When  the  height  is  not  sufficient  to  allow  of  the 
use  of  ceiling  joists,  notch  the  bridging  joists  1 


Fig.  252. 


in.  down  on  the  binders,  and  lath  and  plaster 
direct.  Also  put  in  a  row  of  plasterers’  nails  in 
the  sides  of  the  binder  to  form  a  key  for  the  plas¬ 
ter,  and  plane  and  mould  the  visible  portion  of 
binder. 


204 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


Every  fourth  or  fifth  bridge  joist  is  well  made 
2  in.  deeper  than  the  rest,  and  the  ceiling  joists 
fixed  thereto. 

Pine  is  better  than  oak  for  ceiling  joists. 

To  fin'd  the  depth  of  ceiling  joists,  2  in.  thick, 
for  any  span,  halve  the  bearing  in  feet ;  the  result 
will  be  the  depth  in  inches. 

Ceiling  joists  should  never  exceed  2 Vi  in.  in 
thickness,  nor  he  less  than  1%  in.  They  should  be 
spaced  not  more  than  16  in.  apart,  center  to  cen¬ 
ter. 

Ceiling  joists  should  be  thoroughly  dry,  or  they 
will  indicate  their  position  first  by  dark  and  later 
by  light  stripes  on  the  ceiling. 

A  Hitched  girder  consists  of  a  wrought  iron  plate 
placed  between  two  timber  flitches,  and  the  three 
bolted  together.  The  plate  should  be  Vi  in.  within 
each  edge  of  the  wood,  so  that  the  weight  shall 
not  be  all  thrown  on  it  when  the  wood  has  shrunk. 

When  pine  or  spruce  plates  are  fixed  to  the 
sides  of  iron  girders  for  the  purpose  of  carrying 
the  ends  of  joists,  they  may  be  secured  with  straps 
in  place  of  bolts  with  advantage  in  points  of 
strength  and  economy. 

Scantlings  for  girders  of  Baltic  fir;  distance 
apart,  10  ft.,  center  to  center: 


12  ft.  span=10  in.  x  8  in. 


10  ft.  span=  9  in.  x  7  in. 


and  add  an  inch  in  each 
direction  (breadth  and 
depth)  for  every  addi¬ 
tional  2  ft.  of  span. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


205 


It  is  worse  than  useless  to  truss  girders  in  their 
own  depth. 

Wood  beams,  when  used  as  girders,  should  be 
cut  down  the  middle,  one  of  the  flitches  being  re¬ 
versed  and  the  two  then  bolted  together.  This 
equalizes,  if  it  does  not  increase,  the  strength,  and 
at  the  same  time  affords  an  opportunity  of  seeing 
whether  the  heart  is  defective.  The  bolts  should 
be  placed  mainly  above  the  center  line,  and  any 
placed  below  should  be  near  the  ends. 

Wood  girders  for  warehouses,  factories,  and 
similar  buildings,  are  better  unwrouglit.  If  it  is 
desired  to  paint  them,  they  should  be  cased  with 
worked  pine  linings,  fixed  to  f4  in.  firring  pieces. 

The  formula  for  the  strength  of  timber  girders 

1)  d2 

is  W  =  C  T  — 

Where  W  =  breaking  weight  in  cwts. 

L  =  span  in  feet 
b  =  breadth  in  inches 
d  =  depth  of  girder  in  inches 
C  =  constant  =  5  for  oak,  pitch  pine, 

and  birch 

=  4  for  southern  pine. 

Load  at  center  and  beam  supported  only. 

The  maximum  strength  of  a  timber  beam  is  ob¬ 
tained  when  the  breadth  is  to  the  depth  as  5  is 

to  7. 


206 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


The  illustration  shown  at  Fig.  253  makes  plain 
the  method  of  constructing  a  double  floor.  The 
binder  rests  on  a  wall  or  posts.  This  makes  a  fine 
floor,  and  is  in  a  measure  sound  proof. 


Figs.  254,  255,  25G  and  257,  which  are  borrowed 
from  Architecture  and  Building — old  series — will 
convey  to  the  reader  a  number  of  excellent  ideas 
as  to  the  combination  of  iron  and  wood  in  floor 
framing. 

Fig.  258  shows  the  manner  usually  adopted  in 
preparing  the  floor  timbers  around  a  hearth,  chim¬ 
ney  breast,  stair  well  hole,  or  openings  for  trap 
doors  or  similar  work.  The  trimmers  and  headers 
are  made  with  heavier  timbers  than  the  joists,  and 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


207 


the  tail  beams  are  let  into  the  headers  with  either 
plain  or  tusk-tenons.  Tusk-tenons,  of  course,  are 
the  best,  but  entail  much  labor  and  care.  A  tusk- 
tenon  with  a  run-over  top,  is  shown  in  Fig.  259. 


This  makes  a  good  clean  joint  for  running  over 
a  girt  or  bearing  timber,  and  can  he  nailed  together 
over  the  joint  as  shown,  thus  holding  the  work  so 
that  it  cannot  spread.  The  tenon  is  shown  at  A. 


208 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


There  are  various  shapes  of  tusk-tenons,  some 
of  which  are  shown  in  the  foregoing  examples.  I 
give  below  herewith  a  brief  description  of  what  I 
think  makes  the  best  kind  of  a  tenon : 

The  usual  rule  for  cutting  a  common  tenon  is 
to  make  it  one-thircl  the  width  of  the  timber  and 


Fig.  255. 


this  rule  should  be  followed  as  far  as  possible  in 
designing  a  tusk-tenon.  The  projection  of  the 
tenon  from  the  beam  out  of  which  it  is  cut  is  called 
its  root,  and  the  surfaces  immediately  adjacent 
to  its  root  on  the  sides  are  called  the  shoulders. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


209 


Fig.  257. 


210 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


The  tusk-tenon  was  devised  in  order  to  give  the 
tenon  a  deep  hearing  at  the  root,  without  greatly 
increasing  the  size  of  the  mortise.  Making  the 


mortise  unduly  large  would,  of  course,  weaken  the 
girder.  The  desired  deep  bearing  is  secured  by 


adding  below  the  tenon  a  tusk  having  a  shoulder 
which  in  trimmer  work  penetrates  to  a  depth  about 
one-sixth  the  thickness  of  the  joist.  Above  the 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


211 


tenon  is  formed  what  is  called  a  ‘  ‘  horn,  ’  ’  the  lower 
end  of  which  penetrates  to  the  same  extent  as  the 
tusk.  By  this  arrangement  the  strength  of  the 
tenon  is  greatly  increased  as  compared  with  the 
common  form,  while  the  mortise  is  not  made  very 
much  larger.  In  order  to  hold  the  parts  together 
the  tenon  is  projected  through  the  girder  and 
pinned  on  the  outside  as  shown  in  the  sketches. 

So  much  for  a  description  of  the  tusk-tenon,  as 
it  is  theoretically,  and  as  illustrated  in  Fig.  261. 
Many  tilnes,  however,  the  tusk-tenon  is  attempted 
upon  the  lines  shown  in  Fig.  260.  For  example,  if 
the  beams  are  10  inches  deep,  it  is  placed  so  as  to 
leave  6  in.  beneath.  This  does  not  secure  the  maxi¬ 
mum  of  strength.  The  tenon  is  made  square  on 
the  shoulder,  which  is  not  the  best  that  might  he 
done  and  has  below  the  root  the  bearing  indicated 
by  A  in  the  sketch. 

The  object  in  view  with  this  joint,  where  applied 
to  small  timbers,  as,  for  example,  headers  in  floor 
beams,  as  well  as  in  heavy  framing,  is  to  secure  a 
perfect  bearing  at  all  points.  In  the  application 
of  it  to  floor  beams  the  special  object  is  to  weaken 
the  trimmer  as  little  as  possible. 

It  is  searcelv  necessarv  to  remind  the  readers 
that  a  beam  weighed  and  supported  like  a  trimmer 
has  the  fibers  on  the  bottom  in  tension,  while  those 
at  the  top  are  in  compression.  If  this  is  conceded, 
then  it  becomes  evident  that  whatever  is  to  he 
cut  out  of  the  beam  ought  to  be  cut  out  as  near  the 


212 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


center  as  possible.  The  root  of  the  tenon  should 
pierce  the  beam  at  a  point  as  nearly  on  the  neutral 
axis  as  may  be.  The  nearer  it  is  placed  to  the 
bottom  of  the  beam,  that  is  to  be  connected  with 
the  trimmer,  the  less  likely  the  tenon  is  to  split 
off,  and  as  near  the  middle  of  the  beam  from  top 
to  bottom  as  possible,  is  the  proper  point  for  the 
tenon.  There  is  some  liability  of  the  tenon  split¬ 
ting  off,  however,  wherever  it  is  placed,  and  it  is 


Fig.  260. 


for  this  reason  that  the  shoulder  D,  as  shown  in 
Fig.  261,  is  introduced.  The  bearing  E  also  helps 
to  strengthen  the  construction. 

Fig.  260  is  not  an  ideal  tenon,  so  in  practice  it 
is  always  better  to  employ  tenon  shown  at  261. 

One  very  important  featime  in  heavy  framing  is 
the  construction  of  wood  centers  for  turning  over 
brick  or  stone  arches,  and  I  purpose  giving  at  this 
point  some  examples  of  centers  most  in  common 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


213 


use,  and  a  few  suitable  for  bridge  and  other  large 
works. 

Before  describing  the  types  of  center  in  common 
use  it  will  be  well  to  consider  the  points  that  must 
be  observed  in  their  construction.  The  principles 
that  are  enunciated  below  apply  to  most  temporary 
structures,  but  are  here  intended  to  apply  chiefly 
to  centering.  (1)  Absolute  rigidity  of  the  struc¬ 


ture  is  required.  (2)  A  wide  margin  of  safety 
in  the  resistance  of  the  material  and  fastenings  of 
joints.  (3)  Fastenings  should  be  easy  of  applica¬ 
tion  and  removal,  and  yet  perfectly  reliable.  (4) 
The  structure  must  be  economically  designed, 
which  does  not  mean  always  to  use  as  little  mate- 
rial  as  possible,  but  rather  that  it  shall  sustain  the 
minimum  amount  of  damage  in  jointing  and  fram¬ 
ing,  so  as  to  allow  of  re-use  for  similar  purposes 
when  the  sizes  are  suitable,  or  conversion  into 
timber  for  other  purposes.  (5)  Joints  must  be  so 


214 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


arranged  as  to  transmit  stresses  directly  with  the 
least  possible  tendency  to  slide  when  under  com¬ 
pression,  and  where  necessary  the  fastenings  of 
the  joints  must  be  such  as  to  allow  of  the  stresses 
being  severed  without  movement  of  such  joints 
during  the  loading  of  the  center.  Thus,  when  an 
arch  is  being  erected,  if  of  a  semi-circular  or  semi¬ 
elliptical  outline,  the  first  few  stones  or  bricks  will 
produce  no  stress  in  the  center,  for  the  tendency 
of  the  blocks  to  slide  is  resisted  by  the  friction  be- 
tween  the  surfaces  until  the  angle  of  repose  of  the 
material  is  reached.  After  passing  this  point,  the 
center  becomes  quickly  loaded  and  the  compression 
at  the  haunches  is  severe,  and  being  loaded  sym¬ 
metrically  from  the  two  sides,  produces  a  strong 
tendency  to  lift  at  the  crown,  which  the  center  has 
to  resist.  AVhat  is  required  is  an  arrangement  of 
trussing  the  ribs,  or  separate  vertical  frames  sup¬ 
porting  the  lagging,  that  will  resist  this  deforma¬ 
tion,  and  further,  that  of  the  continued  loading  up 
to  the  insertion  of  the  key  clock.  To  attain  re¬ 
sistance  and  rigidity  so  as  to  overcome  these  diffi¬ 
culties  requires  careful  consideration  in  large  cen¬ 
ters.  The  center  as  a  whole  consists  of  the  sup¬ 
ports,  the  curved  trussed  ribs,  and  the  cover  or 
lagging  which  the  ribs  support. 

First,  as  regards  the  ribs,  these  should  be 
trussed  frames  of  the  required  outline  placed  at 
3,  4  or  5  feet  centers,  according  to  the  weight  of 
the  arch,  strength  of  lagging  and  timbers;  each 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


215 


rib  or  bent  receiving  direct  support.  The  con¬ 
struction  of  the  rib  may  be  accomplished  in  one 
of  three  ways:  (a)  It  may  have  the  curve  built 
up  in  two  or  more  thicknesses;  (b)  it  may  be  of 
solid  material,  connecting  the  struts,  its  outer  sur¬ 
face  cut  to  the  curve;  or  (c)  the  frame  may  be 
trussed  to  the  outline  very  approximately,  and  the 
curve  formed  by  shaped  packings  nailed  to  the 
other  members.  The  general  practice  appears  to 
be  to  use  (a)  in  two  thicknesses,  for  small  centers, 
simply  nailing  or  screwing  the  sections  together; 
(b)  for  large  civil  engineering  structures ;  and  (c) 
also  for  the  latter  work  and  for  arches  of  moderate 
span  that  are  near  the  semicircular  outline.  We 
may  consider  (c)  as  a  modification  of  (b).  But 
there  is  a  great  advantage  in  using  the  built-up 
curve  for  centers  of  comparatively  large  size, 
especially  where  the  whole  rib  can  be  built  up  and 
then  raised  into  position,  because  of  the  fact  that 
if  the  joints  between  the  lengths  of  material  are 
radial  (normal)  to  the  curve,  the  rib,  apart  from 
trussing,  is  in  a  great  measure  self-sustaining,  its 
form  being  that  of  an  arch,  and,  therefore,  capable 
of  sustaining  a  load.  The  writer  knows  of  some 
cases  where  built-up  curved  ribs  (without  truss¬ 
ing),  merely  lagged  and  braced,  have  been  suc¬ 
cessfully  used  to  build  segmental  arches  of  small 
rise  over  moderate  spans.  This  advantage  of  the 
built-up  rib  is  increased  if  three  thicknesses  of 
material  are  used,  and  (A  in.  bolts  instead  of  spikes 


216 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


employed  at  the  joints.  Moreover,  the  ribs  are 
then  very  easily  taken  to  pieces,  the  bolts  used 
again  for  any  suitable  purpose,  and  the  lengths 
of  curve  either  re-cut  for  similar  purposes  or  con¬ 
verted  to  other  uses. 

The  following  rules  and  definitions  regarding 
centers  and  centering  will  he  found  quite  useful 
to  the  workman  and  are  inserted  here  for  his  guid¬ 
ance  and  consideration: 

“Centers  are  temporary  wooden  structures  upon 
which  arches  are  built. 

For  convenience  of  reference  they  may  be  classi¬ 
fied  according  to  construction,  as  turning  pieces, 
rib  centers,  laminated,  or  “built  up,”  framed  and 
trussed,  close-lagged,  and  sundry  special  varieties 
designated  in  connection  with  the  purpose  for 
which  they  are  used,  such  as  dome,  circle  on  circle, 
groin,  and  sheeting  centers. 

Centers  being  required  purely  for  temporary 
purposes  should  be  designed  so  as  to  injure  the 
material  as  little  as  possible,  with  a  view  to  its 
subsequent  use  for  other  purposes. 

This  condition  often  necessitates  the  employ¬ 
ment  of  larger  timbers  than  are  actually  required 
to  meet  the  stresses  occasioned  by  the  load. 

But  it  is  a  good  fault  in  centering  to  have  the 
timber  “too  heavy,”  as  in  extensive  works  such 
as  railway  arches  or  large  vaults,  stresses  some¬ 
times  develop  in  unexpected  directions. 

Every  effort  should  be  made  to  transmit  the 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


217 


load  to  the  ground,  directly,  by  vertical  supports; 
and  if  the  distance  is  great  these  should  be  braced. 

Inclined  supports,  as  sometimes  used,  to  give 
clear  way  for  traffic,  are  apt  to  shrink  and  be¬ 
come  loose,  riding  on  the  dogs,  and  so  throw  them¬ 
selves  out  of  bearing  if  not  watched. 

The  above  does  not  apply  to  arches  whose  abut¬ 
ments  are  piers.  In  this  case  it  is  better  to  throw 
the  weight  of  the  centering  upon  the  footings,  or 
some  part  of  the  pier,  otherwise  when  the  center 
is  struck,  and  the  extra  weight  of  the  arches 
thrown  on  them,  they  may  settle  unequally. 

They  must  be  constructed  in  such  manner  that 
their  shape  will  not  be  altered  by  the  stresses  in¬ 
duced  by  the  load,  which,  of  course,  are  continually 
altering  in  amount  and  direction  as  the  work  pro¬ 
ceeds.  This  requirement  is  best  met  by  bracing 
and  counter -bracing. 

It  is  inadvisable,  except  in  the  case  of  very  heavy 
centers,  to  employ  mortise  and  tenon  joints  in  the 
construction,  as,  apart  from  the  expense  of  these, 
it  is  requisite,  in  order  to  obtain  good  results,  that 
the  timbers  should  be  “true,”  and  as  this  condi¬ 
tion  is  not  essentia]  for  any  other  purpose  in  the 
construction,  it  is  unwise  to  so  design  it  when 
other  and  simpler  joints  will  answer  the  purpose 
equally  well. 

Large  centers  should  be  so  constructed  that  they 
may  be  readily  set  up,  and  it  is  better  to  build 
them  on  the  site,  piece  by  piece,  having  previously 


218 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


fitted  and  marked  them,  than  to  build  them  com  ¬ 
plete  on  the  ground,  and  sling  them  into  position 
with  a  crane.  This  slinging  will  often  disarrange 
the  braces  and  distort  the  ribs.  This  refers  to 
“Builders’  Centers”  only.  Engineers  centers, 
usually  more  elaborately  braced  and  tied  with  iron 
rods,  being  not  affected  thereby. 

Centers  should  also  be  capable  of  easy  striking 
and  ready  readjustment.  These  requirements  are 
usually  met  by  introducing  pairs  of  folding  wedges 
between  the  supports  and  the  lower  bearings  of 
the  center.  There  is  always  a  danger  of  these 
wedges,  whilst  being  driven  back,  suddenly  shoot¬ 
ing  away  and  leaving  the  center  unsupported. 
This  may  be  avoided  by  using  three  wedges,  as 
shown  at  Fig.  286.  Then  if  either  the  top  or  bot¬ 
tom  one  is  driven  out,  a  pair  still  remain  to  take 
the  bearing,  and  “set  up”  again  if  required.  An 
elaboration  of  this  method  is  shown  in  Fig.  287, 
a  continuous  wedge,  used  sometimes  for  heavy 
centers.  It  is  impossible  for  this  form  to  slip,  and 
it  can  be  locked  in  position  when  set  up  by  a  key 
driven  in  one  of  the  slots. 

Screw  jacks  may  also  be  employed  to  obtain 
regular  easing  in  doubtful  eases  of  vaulting  or 
restorative  work. 

Another  point  to  remember  in  designing  cen¬ 
ters,  is  that  there  may  be  projections  below  the 
springing,  such  as  cap  or  neck  moldings,  that  will 
prevent  the  lowering  of  the  center  if  due  allow- 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


219 


ance  is  not  made  for  them;  an  example  of  this  is 
given  in  Figs.  268  and  277.  The  tie-piece  should 
be  made  a  little  shorter  than  the  clear  distance 
between  the  projections,  and  raised  above  the 
springing  to  a  point  where  it  will  cut  the  intrados 
of  the  arch. 

The  tail-pieces,  completing  the  center  down  to 
the  springing,  are  made  up  separately  and  inserted 
after  the  body  is  set  up.  These  tail-pieces  would 
not  be  required  for  a  masonry  arch,  as  the  haunch 
voussoirs  do  not  take  a  bearing  on  the  center  until 
their  bed  joints  exceed  an  angle  of  32  degrees  with 
the  horizontal.  This  is  due  to  the  friction  of  the 
stone  on  its  bed  preventing  its  sliding,  unless  the 
angle  of  the  bed  is  in  excess  of  that  mentioned. 

It  may  also  be  noted  that  the  whole  weight  of 
any  arch  stone  is  not  taken  by  the  centering  until 
the  stone  is  in  such  a  position  on  it  that  a  vertical 
line  drawn  through  its  center  of  gravity  would 
pass  on  the  outside  of  its  bed. 

It  follows  that  during  the  construction  of  the 
arch,  the  load  gradually  increases  from  the  spring¬ 
ing  to  the  crown ;  and  that  in  a  semi-circular  arch, 
when  about  half  way  up  between  springing  and 
crown,  the  load  will  have  a  tendency  to  force  the 
haunches  in  and  spring  the  crown  up.  This  demon¬ 
strates  the  necessity  (a)  of  making  the  center 
stronger  in  the  middle  than  at  the  haunches,  as  a 
greater  weight  will  have  to  be  carried  by  that  part; 
and  (b)  either  that  the  stress  from  the  haunches 


220 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


be  taken  direct  to  the  ground  by  supports  at  the 
feet  of  the  braces,  as  in  Figs.  271  and  277,  or  where 
no  support  is  available  from  below,  at  the  middle 
of  the  span  by  framing  the  feet  of  the  liaunch- 
braces  into  the  foot  of  a  king  post,  which  will 
counteract  the  tendency  of  the  latter  to  rise,  and 
then  to  meet  the  stress  at  the  crown  that  will  come 
later  by  taking  braces  from  the  head  of  the  king 
post  to  the  end  of  the  tie-piece,  directing  the  stress 
to  the  supports  at  the  springing  as  shown  in  Fig. 


It  is  safer  to  increase  the  number  of  ribs  than 
the  thickness  of  the  lagging.  It  is  difficult  to  lay 
down  any  rule  for  the  spacing  of  the  ribs,  as  the 
conditions  vary  in  almost  every  case,  but  they  must 
be  close  enough  to  prevent  any  individual  lag 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


221 


yielding  under  the  load,  and  so  crippling  the  sur¬ 
face  of  the  arch. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  bricklayer  re¬ 
quires  to  pass  his  plumb  rule  and  lines  across  the 
face  of  the  work,  and  over  the  openings,  so  that 
the  ends  of  the  lagging  should  be  kept  within  the 
line  of  the  finished  work. 


Fig.  263. 

It  is  a  convenience  to  let  the  lags  run  over  the 
ribs  about  l1/-*  in.,  so  that  they  can  be  trimmed  as 
required. 

Laggings  for  brickwork  should  be  spaced  not 
more  than  iy>  in.  apart.  For  masonry  they  can 
be  spaced  according  to  the  length  of  the  voussoirs 
used.  A  bearing  at  each  edge  is  sufficient.  Fre¬ 
quently  where  the  voussoirs  exceed  two  feet  in 

A. 

length,  lagging  is  dispensed  with  altogether,  the 


222  TIMBER  FRAMING 

stones  being  supported  by  blocks  or  wedges  ar¬ 
ranged  as  the  work  proceeds.  This  method  is 
shown  in  Fig.  277. 

Oak  is  often  used  for  wedges,  but  maple  is  a 
better  wood,  being  much  less  likely  to  split;  it  is 
also  naturally  smooth  and  slips  well.  If  oak  is 
used,  its  surface  should  be  soaped  or  black-leaded. 
The  wood  should  be  dry,  and  if  machine  cut,  a  fine 
tooth  saw  should  be  used,  or  if  cut  with  a  coarse 
saw,  the  faces  should  be  planed.  The  thin  end 
should  not  be  less  than  %  in.  thick,  and  the  corners 
of  both  ends  “dubbed”  off,  as  shown  in  Fig.  286, 
to  prevent  splitting. 

Wedges  should  be  driven  parallel  to  the  abut¬ 
ments,  i.  e.,  across  the  ribs  and  have  a  block  nailed 
behind  them  to  prevent  running  back. 

Tbe  turning  piece,  Fig.  262,  is  cut  out  of  a  piece 
2  in.  by  4  in. ;  it  is  used  for  the  outside  arches  of 
door  and  window  openings,  of  slight  rise,  and  half 
a  brick  thick.  For  thicker  walls  the  rib  center, 
Fig.  263,  is  used.  This  is  formed  by  shaping  two 
boards,  about  1  in.  thick,  to  the  curve,  keeping 
them  at  a  proper  distance  apart  by  stretchers,  S, 
nailed  on  their  lower  edges,  and  covering  the 
curved  edges  with  lagging  pieces,  L,  about  IV;  in. 
by  •%  in.,  at  intervals  of  %  in.  for  ordinary  work. 

When  the  rise  of  a  center  is  small  in  comparison 
to  its  span,  it  is  inconvenient  to  describe  its  curve 
with  a  radius  rod,  and  the  method  shown  in  Fig. 
264  may  be  adopted.  Take  a  piece  of  board  of  con- 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


223 


venient  size  and  draw  a  line  across  it  from  edge  to 
edge,  equal  in  length  to  the  span  of  the  arch  re¬ 
quired;  at  the  center  of  this  line  draw  a  perpen¬ 
dicular  equal  in  length  to  the  rise,  draw  a  line  from 
this  point,  b,  to  the  springing  point,  a,  and  cut  the 
ends  off  beyond  the  line;  the  portion  cut  off  is 
shown  by  dotted  lines  in  the  sketch.  Two  nails  arc 
driven  into  the  piece  from  which  the  segment  is  to 
be  cut,  at  a  distance  apart  equal  to  the  span,  as  at 
a-c,  and  the  templet  placed  in  the  position  shown 
in  Fig.  264,  with  a  pencil  held  at  point  b ;  if  the 


board  is  now  moved  around  towards  a,  keeping  it 
pressed  against  the  nails,  one-half  the  curve  will 
be  described,  and  on  turning  over  and  repeating 
the  process  the  other  half  may  be  completed. 

An  alternative  method  is  shown  in  Fig.  264,  suit¬ 
able  for  very  flat  arches.  Lay  off  the  rise,  and 
span,  perpendicular  to  each  other,  as  a,  b  and  c, 
upon  any  convenient  surface;  draw  the  cord  line 
a  c,  lay  the  board  from  which  the  templet  is  to  be 
cut  in  a  suitable  position  over  these  lines,  and  re¬ 
produce  the  line  a  c  upon  it;  also  draw  the  line  e  d 
parallel  to  a  b;  next  cut  the  board  to  this  triangu- 


224 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


lar  shape,  as  shown  by  the  shaded  portion;  then 
if  nails  are  driven  in  the  board  to  be  cut  at  points 
a  and  c,  and  the  templet  moved  around  against 
them,  the  curve  will  be  described  by  a  pencil  held 
at  point  e,  as  shown  by  the  dotted  line. 

When  the  rise  is  more  than  the  width  of  a  hoard 
will  accommodate,  a  variation  of  this  method  may 
he  used.  Into  the  board  or  hoards  from  which  the 
rib  is  to  he  cut  three  nails  are  driven,  as  at  a,  b,  c, 
Fig.  265,  arranged  so  that  a-c  shall  equal  the  span 
and  b  the  rise,  then  place  two  strips  of  wood 
against  the  nails  as  shown,  crossing  at  the  crown, 
and  fix  them  together;  a  third  piece  nailed  across 
to  form  a  triangle  will  keep  them  in  position,  if 
the  nail  at  the  apex  is  withdrawn  and  a  pencil  sub¬ 
stituted  ;  when  the  triangle  is  moved  around  as  be¬ 
fore  described,  the  curve  will  be  produced.  One  of 
the  legs  of  the  triangle  should  be  twice  the  length 
from  a  to  b. 

A  built-up  center  is  shown  in  Figs.  266  and  267 ; 
the  ribs  in  this  varietv  are  formed  in  two  thick- 
nesses,  the  laminae  being  nailed  together  in  short 
lengths,  the  abutting  joints  of  each  layer  meeting 
in  the  center  of  the  other.  These  abutment  joints 
should  not  be  less  than  4  in.  long,  and  should  ra¬ 
diate  from  the  center  of  the  curve.  The  length  of 
the  segments  is  determined  by  the  amount  of  the 
curve  that  can  be  cut  out  of  a  9  in.  board.  The  two 
longer  layers  of  the  rib  at  the  springing  are  cut  off 
at  the  top  edge  of  the  tie-pieces,  and  form  with  the 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


225 


upper  layer,  which  runs  down  to  its  bottom  edge, 
a  rebate,  in  which  the  tie  rests.  The  layer  running 
down  is  nailed  to  the  tie.  The  tie-piece  may  be 


from  1  in.  by  7  in.  to  iy2  in.  by  9  in.,  according  to 
the  span.  The  braces,  of  similar  scantling,  should 
radiate  from  the  center,  and  be  shouldered  slightly 
upon  the  same  side  of  the  tie-piece  that  the  ribs 


Fig.  266.  Fig.  267. 


226 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


run  over;  their  upper  ends  are  nailed  on  the  side 
of  the  layer  of  the  rib,  and  take  a  bearing  under 


the  edges  of  the  other.  This  form  of  center  may  be 
safely  used  for  spans  up  to  12  ft.,  but  although 
sometimes  used  for  greater,  they  are  not  to  be 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


227 


recommended  owing  to  the  numerous  joints,  and 
the  possibility  of  splitting  the  segments  in  nail¬ 
ing. 

The  framed  center,  Fig.  268,  is  better  adapted 
for  spans  between  12  ft.  and  20  ft.  The  ribs  are 
solid,  out  of  2  in.  or  3  in.  by  9  in.,  as  the  span  is 
less  or  more,  and  if  this  is  not  wide  enough  to  get 


Fig.  269. 


the  curve  out,  in  four  or  five  lengths,  must  he  made 
up  to  the  required  width,  with  similar  pieces 
spiked  on  the  hack.  The  ends  near  the  springing 
are  shouldered  out  i/^  in.  on  each  side  to  sit  on  the 
tie-pieces,  which  are  in  pairs;  the  upper  ends  have 
slot  mortises  cut  in  them  to  receive  the  tenons  on 
the  braces  (see  Figs.  269  and  270).  The  lower 


228 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


ends  of  the  braces  are  shouldered  in  a  manner 
similar  to  the  ribs.  The  ends  in  the  ties  are  fixed 
with  coach  screws,  the  upper  ends  by  dogs. 

A  trussed  center  of  economical  construction  is 
shown  in  Fig.  271,  consisting  of  a  triangulated 
frame  of  quartering,  used  as  a  support  to  the  ribs. 
The  foundation  frame  may  take  the  form  of  either 
a  king  or  queen  post  truss,  as  the  span  and  num¬ 
ber  of  braces  required  may  indicate;  but  what¬ 
ever  the  form,  as  previously  mentioned,  the 
stresses  should  be  directed  to  the  points  of  sup¬ 
port,  in  this  case  three.  ' 


The  joints  are  formed  by  notching  the  ends  of 
the  braces  into  the  ties,  and  keeping  them  in  posi¬ 
tion  by  means  of  dogs.  Xo  tenons  are  used,  as 
from  the  construction  all  the  members  will  be  in 
compression ;  short  puncheons  should  be  used  un¬ 
der  the  joints  of  the  ribs,  as  shown  at  PP.  This 
form  may  be  used  safely  for  brick  arches  up  to 
25  ft.  span,  but  must  be  supported  in  the  middle. 
When  this  course  is  not  possible  a  trussed  and 
framed  center,  similar  to  Fig.  272,  may  be  em¬ 
ployed.  This  is  a  very  strong  construction,  espe- 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


229 


cially  suitable  for  masonry  arclies  in  which  con¬ 
siderable  cross  strains,  due  to  the  slower  manipu¬ 
lation  of  the  load,  have  to  be  met.  Here  it  will 
be  seen  that  the  haunch  loads  are  directed  to  the 
foot  of  the  king  post,  and  not  to  the  tie ;  from  that 
point  it  is  directed  by  way  of  the  struts  D  to  the 
supports  at  the  end  of  the  tie.  These  same  struts, 
D,  also  take  the  crown  load.  The  king  post,  tie 
piece  and  struts  D  are  all  made  solid,  the  latter 


Fig.  273. 


passing  between  the  struts  E,  into  which  they  are 
notched  slightly,  to  stiffen  them  (see  detail,  Fig. 
275).  Packing  pieces  are  used  at  the  upper  ends 
of  the  struts  E,  to  bring  the  ribs  up  to  the  bearing 
(see  Fig.  276),  the  whole  fastened  together  with 
spikes  or  coach  screws.  The  ends  of  the  ribs  at 
cr-own  and  springing  are  sunk  in  about  %  in.  (see 
Fig.  274),  the  lower  ends  being  spiked  through 
the  back.  The  lags  are  2  in.  by  3  in.,  spaced  ac¬ 


ini 


% 


m 


IMiTTh 


i  I 

^j'lW 

I 

Jpl 

ifj  Jil 


Fig.  274. 


Fig.  275. 


Fig.  276. 


230 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


t- 


tp 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


231 


cording  to  requirements,  about  two-thirds  of  the 
length  of  the  stone  from  the  bed  joint  of  each 
voussoir  will  be  found  the  best  position.  The  ribs 
are  spaced  at  3  ft.  6  in.  apart.  The  lags  in  the 
example  are  shown  notched  into  the  backs  of  the 
ribs  be  in. ;  this  method  is  often  adopted  when 
the  center  is  built  in  situ,  and  the  length  of  the 
arch  is  such  as  to  require  several  ribs.  The  two 
end  ribs  should  have  a  radius  rod  fixed  on  the  tie- 
piece,  to  be  swept  round,  the  circumference,  and 
the  lags  can  be  brought  into  the  line  of  curve  by 
adjusting  the  depth  of  notch.  When  the  end  pair 
are  correct,  a  line  sprung  through,  or  a  straight 
edge  applied,  will  give  the  depth  of  the  interme¬ 
diate  notching. 

A  trussed  center  for  a  large  span  is  illustrated 
by  Figs.  277  and  283.  Figs.  283  and  284  are  de¬ 
tails  of  the  construction. 

Centers  of  the  above  description  are  generally 
constructed  as  follows:  a  chalk  line  diagram, 
complete,  and  full  size,  is  laid  down  on  a  suit¬ 
able  platform  or  floor,  the  timber  from  which  the 
segments  of  the  ribs  are  to  be  cut  are  laid  in  posi¬ 
tion  over  the  curve  alternately,  and  the  joints 
marked  with  a  straight  edge,  radiating  from  the 
center;  or,  in  the  case  of  elliptic  or  parabolic 
arches,  drawn  normal  to  the  curve  at  the  points 
where  the  joints  occur  (see  n,  Fig.  282).  When 
the  joints  are  cut  the  segments  are  laid  down  and 
nailed  together,  a  radius  rod  is  then  swept  round 


232 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


to  mark  the  curve,  or  in  segmental  arches  the 
triangle,  Fig.  282,  may  be  used;  the  pieces  are  then 
separated  and  cut,  again  laid  down  with  spikes 
driven  temporarily  around  their  periphery  to 
keep  them  in  place;  the  struts  and  ties  are  then 
laid  over  them  in  position,  and  the  lines  for  the 
shouldering  and  notching  drawn  on;  each  joint 
should  have  a  chisel  mark  made  on  the  pieces  to 
identify  them,  and  the  joints  being  made,  the 
whole  can  be  fitted  together,  nailed  up  and  bolted, 
then  taken  to  pieces  ready  for  re-erection  in  situ. 


Fig.  278.  Fig.  279. 


(  lose  lagged  centers  for  various  purposes  are 
shown  in  Figs.  278  and  280  and  284.  The  surface 
of  these  is  required  to  he  finished  more  accuratelv 
than  in  the  ordinary  center,  because  the  brick¬ 
layer  sets  out  the  plans  of  his  courses  thereon, 
and  thus  obtains  the  shape  of  the  voussoirs.  The 
lagging  is  nailed  closely  round  the  ribs,  and 
brought  into  the  curve  afterwards,  with  tbe  plane. 

The  profile  line  being  obtained  either  by  radius 
rod  or  templet.  In  the  case  of  Dome  or  Niche 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


233 


centers,  a  reverse-  templet  affords  the  readiest 
guide  for  shaping  the  surface. 

A  circle  on  circle  center,  when  semi-circular  in 
elevation,  may  be  constructed  as  shown  in  Figs. 
274  to  278.  Two  ribs  are  cut  to  the  plan  curve, 
and  upon  each  edge  of  these  narrow  vertical 
laggings,  rather  closely  spaced,  and  thin  enough 
to  bend  easily  to  the  curve,  are  nailed.  The 
bottom  rib  is  placed  at  the  springing,  the  other 
about  half  way  between  it  and  the  crown,  when 


this  side  lagging  is  fixed,  a  radius  rod  shaped 
as  in  Fig.  277,  and  set  out  so  that  the  distance 
between  the  pivot  A  and  the  middle  of  the  V 
notch  is  equal  to  the  radius  of  the  required  arch, 
less  the  thickness  of  the  soffit  lagging;  is  mounted 
on  a  temporary  stretcher,  C,  at  the  middle  of  the 
springing;  this  is  swept  round  the  lagging  on 
each  side,  a  pencil  being  held  loosely  in  the  V 
notch,  thus  'Obtaining  the  outline  of  the  elevation 


234 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


curve.  (Of  course  if  the  soffit  were  splayed  the 
inner  radius  would  be  shorter,  but  struck  from  the 
same  level  as  the  outer.)  The  boards  are  cut 
square  through  to  the  lines  and  the  cross  lagging 
nailed  to  their  ends,  as  shown  in  the  section. 

When  the  plan  curve  is  flat,  such  as  would  occur 
in  a  narrow  opening  in  a  large  circular  wall,  the 
vertical  lagging  may  be  omitted  and  the  center 
built  as  shown  in  Figs.  278  and  282,  plain  vertical 
ribs  being  employed,  and  the  lags  allowed  to  over¬ 
hang  sufficiently  to  form  the  plan  curves.  They 
require  to  be  rather  stouter  than  usual  to  ensure 
stiffness. 

There  are  two  wa}rs  in  which  centering  for  in¬ 
tersecting  vaults  may  be  constructed :  first,  when 
the  vault  is  not  of  great  span,  a  “barrel”  or  con¬ 
tinuous  center  is  made  for  the  main  vault,  long 
enough  to  run  about  two  feet  beyond  each  side  of 
the  intersecting  vault.  The  centers  of  the  smaller 
vaults  are  then  made  with  the  lagging  overhang¬ 
ing  the  rib  at  one  end,  the  two  centers  are  then 
placed  on  a  level  surface  and  brought  together 
in  their  correct  relative  positions,  and  the  loose 
ends  of  lagging  scribed  to  fit  the  contour  of  the 
main  center,  and  then  nailed  thereto. 

This  method,  however,  is  unsuitable  for  vaults 
of  large  span,  as  the  lagging  would  be  liable  to 
sink  at  the  intersection  through  the  absence  of 
support.  The  second  method,  shown  in  Figs.  281 
and  283,  is  then  adopted;  a  rectangular  frame  is 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


235 


first  constructed  equal  in  length  to  the  proposed 

* 

center,  and  in  width  to  the  clear  span  between  the 
walls ;  this  frame  is  halved  together  at  the  angles, 
as  shown  at  E,  Fig.  283,  and  forms  a  firm  base 
for  fixing  the  ribs  to;  a  similar  frame  is  made 
and  fixed  underneath  for  the  cross  vault,  and  ribs 
of  the  requisite  curvature  are  set  up  at  the  four 
ends,  also  at  the  intersecting  line  or  groin,  being 
secured  firmly  at  the  base. 


Fig.  281. 


The  groin  ribs  are  made  in  two  thicknesses  for 
convenience  of  beveling,  the  angle  of  the  seating 
being  a  re-entrant  one. 

The  method  of  producing  the  bevel  is  explained 
elsewhere.  The  lagging  of  the  cylindric  center 
should  be  fixed  first  and  worked  off  true  with  the 


236 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


aid  of  a  plane  and  straiglit-edge;  a  thin  straight 
lath  should  then  be  bent  round  over  the  center  of 
the  groin  rib,  and  a  pencil  line  drawn  down  its 
edge;  the  ends  of  the  lagging  being  trimmed  off 
to  it  with  a  chisel  held  plumb;  this  will  give  the 
proper  intersection  for  the  main  lags,  and  when 
these  latter  are  cut  to  fit  their  true  outline  at  the 
intersection  may  be  obtained  by  marking  on  their 
ends  with  a  pencil  drawn  down  the  surface  of  the 
cylinder.  A  templet,  obtained  as  described  below, 
applied  at  the  ends  will  give  the  profile  at  the  ex¬ 
tremities,  and  each  lag  can  be  placed  to  fit  before 
nailing  on. 

To  find  the  space  of  a  groin  rib  when  the  shape 
of  penetrating  vault  is  given:  First,  by  means  of 
ordinates;  divide  the  semi-circular  rib,  A,  Fig. 
283,  into  a  number  of  parts,  as  at  1,  2,  3,  4,  5 ;  draw 
perpendiculars  from  these  to  the  springing  line  x, 
and  produce  the  lines  to  cut  the  plan  of  the  center 
of  groin  rib,  in  a,  b,  c,  d,  x ;  erect  perpendiculars 
at  these  points  to  the  plan  line,  d-f,  and  mark  off 
on  them  heights  to  correspond  with  the  similarly 
marked  heights  in  the  section,  Fig.  283;  these  will 
give  points  in  the  curve,  which  may  be  drawn  by 
driving  in  nails  at  the  points  and  bending  a  thin 
lath  round  them.  The  curve  may,  however,  be 
drawn  quicker  by  a  trammel,  taking  the  height,  x-, 
for  the  minor  axis,  and  the  length,  d-x,  for  the  ma¬ 
jor  axis.  -When  a  properly  constructed  trammel 
is  not  at  hand,  its  principle  may  be  utilized  in  the 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


237 


following  manner:  To  draw  an  ellipse  without  a 
trammel — Let  A,  C,  B,  Fig.  284,  represent  a  board 
upon  which  it  is  desired  to  draw  a  semi-ellipse, 
joint  the  edge,  A,  B,  straight,  draw  a  line  in  the 
center,  square  wTitli  the  edge,  as  C,  produce  it 
across  another  piece  of  board  resting  against  the 
first,  to  D ;  then  mark  'off,  on  a  straight  lath  from 
one  end,  the  semi-major  and  semi-minor  axes ;  in 
other  words,  the  rise  and  half-span  of  the  arch. 
Keeping  these  two  points  upon  the  lines,  A,  B,  and 
C,  D,  arrange  the  lath  in  various  positions,  as 
shown  by  dotted  lines  in  Fig.  284,  and  pencil  lines 
made  at  its  end  will  give  points  on  the  curve. 


To  find  the  shape  of  the  ribs  for  the  main  center, 
Fig.  283,  from  the  points  a',  V,  c',  d',  x',  in  plan, 
draw  lines  parallel  to  the  edge  of  the  center,  in¬ 
tersecting  the  seat  of  the  end  rib  in  points  a",  b", 
0",  d",  x";  along  these  lines  set  off  heights  equal  • 
to  the  corresponding  ordinates  in  Fig.  281,  and 
draw  the  outline  of  the  rib  through  them,  as  at  C, 
Fig.  284. 


238 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


To  find  joint  line  and  direction  for  braces  in 
elliptic  centers,  see  Fig.  284.  First  find  the  focal 
points,  with  radius  equal  to  half  the  span  a  b. 
Describe  an  arc  from  center  c,  cutting  the  major 
axis  a  b  in  f  f;  these  are  the  foci.  To  find  the 
joint  line  or  normal  from  anjr  point  in  the  curve  as 
n  (fixed  conveniently  for  length  of  stuff),  draw 
straight  lines  to  the  foci;  bisect  the  contained 
angle,  as  shown  by  a  line  drawn  through  the  point 
n  and  the  center  of  the  constructive  arc.  This 
line  is  a  normal  or  perpendicular  to  the  curve  at 
the  point  in  question,  and  indicates  the  direction 
of  joint  and  braces. 


Fig.  285. 


The  method  of  bevelling  a  groin  rib  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  obtaining  a  level  seating  for  the  lagging  is 
shown  in  Fig.  283.  Let  c,  d,  b  represent  the  plan 
of  one-half  of  a  groin  rib  similar  to  H,  x,  Fig.  281, 
and  C,  d',  the  elevation,  which  may  also  represent 
the  mould  or  templet;  a,  e,  f,  g  is  the  piece  of 
board  from  which  the  rib  is  to  be  cut,  on  the  face 
side  of  the  board  draw  the  full  line,  C,  d',  by  aid 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


239 


of  the  mould,  cut  the  ends  square  with  each  other, 
as  a,  e,  and  d,  g,  then  apply  the  bevel  as  found  at 
d  in  plan  from  point  d'  across  the  bottom  edge, 
square  a  line  across  the  top  end  at  C,  and  apply 
the  mould  on  the  other  side  of  the  board,  as  shown 
by  the  dotted  line  with  its  lower  end  at  the  bevel 
line  and  its  upper  end  to  the  level  line  from  point 
C.  If  the  rib  is  cut  to  these  two  lines,  and  a  simi¬ 
lar  one  made  the  reverse  hand  and  nailed  together, 
as  shown  in  Fig.  281,  its  edge  will  lie  in  the  planes 
of  the  directions  of  the  intersecting  vaults. 


The  methods  shown  in  the  following  descrip¬ 
tions  and  illustrations  further  affords  very  con¬ 
venient  means  of  jointing,  for  the  struts  can  al¬ 
ways  he  made  to  meet  at  points  such  as  A  or  B  in 
Fig.  289,  making  possible  either  a  mortise-and- 
tenon  or  a  bridle  joint,  without  cutting  into  the 
rib;  for  taking  either  of  the  two  positions  given, 


240 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


the  crossing  of  the  sections  of  the  curve  provided 
the  necessary  entering  or  receiving  portion  of  the 
joint,  leaving  onlv  one-lialf  of  the  joint  to  be 
worked  'on  the  strut.  In  the  solid-rib  type,  the 
curve  is  made  up  of  lengths  of  solid  material, 
with  the  joints  between  each  part  of  the  strut 
connections,  thereby  becoming  separate  members 
to  the  frame.  The  curve  itself  has  no  resistance 
apart  from  its  connection  with  the  struts.  The 
jointing  in  this  case  is  more  of  a  permanent  na¬ 
ture. 


Fig.  290. 


The  arrangement  of  the  members  of  the  rib,  so 
as  to  give  internal  support  to  the  curve,  depends 
on  conditions  that  will  be  readily  noted  as  the 
diagrams  are  perused.  If  the  span  and  outline 
be  such  that  the  rise  is  not  great,  the  struts  may 
all  be  brought  directly  on  to  the  tie,  and  concen¬ 
trated  on  the  intermediate  supports,  as  shown  in 
Fig.  290.  This  type  should  have  solid  ribs  jointed 
at  the  points  A,  B,  C,  etc.,  as  shown  (for  details 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


241 


of  which  see  Figs.  290  and  291).  If,  however,  the 
rise  be  great,  either  a  flat  member  must  be  bolted 
across  the  face  of  the  rib  so  as  to  shorten  the 
struts  effectively,  or,  better,  the  type  shown  in 


Fig.  293  can  be  adopted,  which  shows  the  method 
of  arranging  the  members  more  suitably.  The 
struts  are  much  shorter,  and  can  therefore  be 


c 


lighter.  A  great  resistance  to  lifting  at  the  crown 
is  obtained,  and  if  necessary  the  intermediate 
supports  can  be  dispensed  with.  Further,  the 
direct  supports  to  the  curve  may  be  all  normals, 


242 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


or  their  equivalent,  for  this  latter  condition  is  sat¬ 
isfied  if  a  pair  of  struts  meet  at  an  equal  incli¬ 


nation  (Fig.  292).  Fig.  293  gives  the  elevation  in 
line  diagram,  and  Fig.  294  gives  the  full  details 
of  the  construction,  span  30  ft.  The  rib  is  here 


Fitf.  294 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


243 


built  up  in  three  one  and  a  half  inches  stuff.  In 
both  Figs.  289  and  293  the  tie  is  double,  of  2x9  in. 
material.  Fig.  293  fulfills  the  requirement  of  a 
good  center,  and  therefore  this  form  may  with  ad¬ 
vantage  be  generally  adopted  and  modified  in  the 
internal  trussing  as  the  span  increases. 

Elliptical  arches  of  long  spans  are  somewhat 
more  difficult  to  deal  with,  and  I  present  the  fol¬ 
lowing  merely  to  enable  workmen  to  deal  with 
centers  of  this  kind,  having  a  span  from  30  to  100 
feet. 


A 


X] 

f7Tl 

A 

A 

IX 

A 

/  \ 

\ 

/  \ 

A 

a 

Fig.  295. 


Large  centers  for  civil  engineering  structures, 
such  as  bridges  crossing  rivers  in  several  spans, 
are  scarcely  within  our  scope,  these  requiring  spe¬ 
cial  treatment  according  to  circumstances.  But 
we  may  with  advantage  just  note  on  the  general 
forms  of  centers  that  are  adopted  for  compara¬ 
tively  flat  elliptical  arches,  together  with  a  modi¬ 
fication  for  a  greater  rise.  Fig.  295  is  the  gen¬ 
eral  form.  It  has  many  points  of  support,  there- 


244 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


fore  little  tendency  to  give  at  the  crown.  The 
whole  of  the  material  is  of  large  size,  6  in.  by  6  in. 
being  the  minimum,  and  for  the  platform  whole 


Fig.  296. 


Fig.  297. 


timbers  12  in.  by  12  in.  receive  the  vertical  posts. 
For  heavier  work  and  wider  spans,  the  construc¬ 
tion  given  in  Fig.  298  is  well  adapted.  Details  in 


\ 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING  245 


246 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


Figs.  296  to  300  show  the  construction  of  joints 
which  applies  throughout.  This  is  built  in  two 
tiers,  keeping  the  struts  comparatively  short,  and 
effectively  distributes  pressure  to  the  points  of 
support.  The  secondary  horizontal  member  is 
large  enough  to  clasp  the  curved  rib  at  the  ends 
(see  Fig.  301),  and  the  whole  of  the  joints  are 
housed  or  tenoned  and  strapped  where  necessary, 
and  as  shown  in  details.  Transverse  and  longitu¬ 
dinal  bracing  is  freely  used  in  the  manner  pre- 


Fig.  299 


Fig.  300 


viously  described,  and  by  careful  arrangement 
and  sufficient  bracing  in  vertical  planes  the  neces¬ 
sity  for  strap  connections  can  be  reduced  to  a 
minimum.  For  heavy  arches  such  as  these  the 
centers  are  struck  by  the  introduction  of  lifting 
jacks  or  sand  boxes,  the  latter  being  especially 
suited  to  the  purpose.  They  are  arranged  to  con¬ 
tain  fine  dry  sand,  with  means  of  escape  for  the 
sand  as  needed,  so  that  the  center  may  be  lowered 
easily  and  gradually,  and  to  any  required  amount 
within  the  provided  limits. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


247 


I  show  at  Figs.  302,  303,  304  and  305  four  exam¬ 
ples  of  centers  in  situ,  carrying  the  brick  or  stone 


Fig-.  301. 


work,  as  the  case  may  be;  Fig.  302  shows  a  cen¬ 
ter  for  a  small  span.  It  consists  of  a  trussed 
frame,  of  which  A  is  the  tie,  B  the  principal,  or, 


Fig.  302. 


as  its  outer  edge  is  curved  to  the  contour  of  the 
arch,  it  is  called  the  felloe,  C  the  post  or  puncheon, 


248 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


and  F  a  strut.  The  center  is  carried  by  the  piles 
D,  on  the  top  of  which  is  a  capping  piece  E,  ex¬ 
tending  across  the  opening ;  and  the  wedge  blocks 
are  interposed  betwixt  it  and  the  tie-beam. 

Fig.  303  shows  center  for  a  small  span  for  an 
elliptical  arch. 


Fig.  304  shows  a  center  with  intermediate  sup¬ 
ports  and  simple  framing,  consisting  of  two 
trusses  formed  on  the  puncheons  over  the  inter¬ 
mediate  supports  as  king-posts,  and  subsidiary 
trusses  for  the  haunches,  with  struts  from  their 
center  parallel  to  the  main  struts.  This  is  an  ex¬ 
cellent  design  for  a  center  carrying  a  segmental 
flat  arch  having  a  large  span. 

Fig.  305  shows  a  system  of  supporting  a  large 
semi-elliptical  center  arch  rib  from  the  interme¬ 
diate  supports  by  radiating  struts,  which,  with 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


249 


modifications  to>  suit  tlie  circumstances  of  the  case, 
have  been  very  extensively  adopted  in  many  large 
works  connected  with  railroads  in  this  country 


o 

CO 

bh 

£ 


and  Europe.  The  struts  abut  at  their  upper  end 
on  straining  pieces,  or  apron  pieces,  as  they  are 
sometimes  called,  which  are  bolted  to  the  rib,  and 


250 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


serve  to  strengthen  it.  The  ends  of  the  transverse 
braces  are  seen  at  a  a. 


1a 

o 

CO 

bi 


The  examples  and  details  of  centers  given  in  the 
foregoing  are  quite  sufficient  to  enable  the  foreman 
to  lay-out,  and  execute  any  job  of  building  a  cen- 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


251 


ter  that  may  confront  him;  and  at  this  point  we 
leave  the  subject  of  centers,  and  take  up  another 
important  one,  namely,  that  of  timber  roof  fram¬ 
ing.  While  I  propose  discussing  timber  roofs  and 
trusses  in  general  in  this  department,  it  is  not  in¬ 
tended  to  deal  with  roof  coverings  further  than 
may  be  necessary  to  make  the  instructions  and 
suggestions  given  herewith  intelligible  and  so  that 
they  may  be  understood  by  every  workman  who 
can  read. 

There  are  a  few  general  rules  governing  timber 
roof  framing  the  workman  should  always  have  in 
mind  when  building  or  designing  a  roof  of  any 
kind,  a  few  of  which  I  submit;  and  which  I  hope 
will  prove  of  sufficient  importance  to  be  remem¬ 
bered  : 

1.  Every  construction  should  be  a  little  strong¬ 
er  than  ‘‘strong  enough.” 

2.  Roofs  should  neither  be  too  lieaw  nor  too 
slight;  both  extremes  should  be  rigorously  avoid¬ 
ed. 

3.  Flat-pitched  roofs  are  not  so  strong  as  high¬ 
er  pitched  -ones. 

4.  Suitable  pitches  of  roofs  for  various  cover¬ 
ings  are :  Copper,  lead,  or  zinc,  6  degrees ;  corru¬ 
gated  iron,  8  degrees;  tiles  and  slates,  33  degrees 
to  45  degrees. 

5.  Approximate  weight  of  roofs  per  square : 
The  timber  framing,  5y2  cwt. ;  Countess  slates, 
6V2  cwt. ;  add  for  1  in.  pine  or  hemlock  boarding, 


252 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


-V2  cwt. ;  plain  tiles,  14  cwt. ;  7  lb.  lead,  6  cwt. ;  1-32 
in.  zinc,  1 y2  cwt. 

6.  The  construction  should  be  able  to  with¬ 
stand  an  additional  weight  of  30  cwt.  per  square 
for  wind  pressure. 

7.  When  the  carpentry  forming  the  roof  of  a 
building  is  of  great  extent,  instead  of  being  inju¬ 
rious  to  the  stability  of  the  walls  or  points  of  sup¬ 
port,  it  should  be  so  designed  that  it  will  strength¬ 
en  and  keep  them  together. 

8.  Forms  of  roofs  for  various  spans  should 
couple,  up  to  11  ft. ;  couple  close,  to  14  ft. ;  collar, 
to  17  ft. ;  king  post,  to  30  ft. ;  queen  post,  to  46  ft. ; 
queen  and  princess,  to  75  ft. 

9.  Eoof  trusses  should  be  prepared  from 
sound,  dry  timber,  white  or  red  pine,  free  from 
large  knots,  sap,  and  shakes,  all  parts  to  hold  sizes 
shown  in  figured  dimensions,  and  all  joints  to  be 
stub-tenoned  and  to  fit  square  to  shoulders.  Tie- 
beam  should  be  cambered  y2  in.  in  10  ft.,  and 
straps  and  bolts  be  of  best  wrought-iron.  No 
spikes  should  be  used  in  the  construction  except 
for  fixing  cleats. 

10.  Tie  beams  should  be  supported  every  15  ft. 

11.  Struts  should  be  taken  as  nearly  as  possi¬ 
ble  under  bearing  of  purlin. 

12.  The  straining  beams  in  spans  of  50  ft.  and 
upwards  require  support,  and  a  king  bolt  or  post 
should  be  introduced. 

13.  To  find  the  thickness  of  king  post  trusses, 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


253 


divide  the  span  by  five  and  call  the  quotient  inch¬ 
es.  Assume  9  in.  and  5  in.  as  the  standard  depth 
of  tie  beams  and  principal  rafter  respectively  for 
20  ft.  span ;  add  1  in.  to  each  for  every  additional 
5  ft.  of  span.  King  posts  and  struts  to  be  square. 

14.  To  find  the  thickness  of  queen  post  trusses, 
divide  the  span  by  eight  and  call  the  quotient 
inches ;  if  odd  parts  result,  add  1  in.  for  tiles,  and 
for  slates  take  off  the  fraction.  Taking  the  stand¬ 
ard  depth  of  tie  beam  and  principal  for  32  ft.  span 
to  be  11  in.  and  6  in.  respectively,  add  1  in.  to  each 
for  every  5  ft.  of  additional  span.  The  struts  and 
body  of  the  queens  to  be  made  square. 

15.  Wall  plates  are  used  to  distribute  the 
weight  of  roof  timbers,  and  also  to  act  as  ties  to 
the  walls.  For  this  reason  tie-beams  should  be 
cogged  to  the  plates,  the  latter  dove-tail-halved 
at  the  angle,  and  dove-tail-scarfed  in  longitudinal 
joints.  Wall  plates  in  roofs  should  be  creosoted 
or  otherwise  protected  against  rot,  and  bedded. in 
cement  knocked  up  stiff. 

16.  Purlins  should  be  cogged  or  notched  on  to 
principal  rafters  and  not  framed  between  them. 
When  cogged  or  notched  they  will  carry  nearly 
twice  as  much  as  when  framed. 

17.  The  available  strength  of  tie  beams  is  that 
of  the  uncut  fibres,  and,  therefore,  mortises  should 
be  shallow,  and  all  notching  be  avoided. 

18.  Scarfs  in  tie  beams  should  be  made  be¬ 
tween  the  points  of  support,  and  not  directly  un- 


254 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


der  them,  as  any  mortises  or  bolt-holes  at  these 
points  reduce  the  strength  of  the  beam. 

19.  Dragon  ties  should  be  provided  at  the 
angles  of  hipped  roofs  to  take  the  thrust  of  the 
hips  and  to  tie  in  the  ends  of  wall  plates.  It  is 
best  that  the  hip  should  be  deep  enough  to  birds- 
mo.uth  over  the  angle  brace. 

20.  "Wind  braces,  which  are  diagonal  ties  in 
roofs  open  at  the  ends,  as  in  railway  stations,  to 
withstand  the  overturning  or  racking  pressure  of 
the  wind,  may  be  of  timber  framed  between  the 
purlins,  or  iron  rods  running  from  the  head  of  one 
truss  to  the  foot  of  the  next. 

21.  Hip  rafters,  being  deeper  than  the  common 
rafters,  are  visible  inside  when  the  roof  is  ceiled, 
and  should  be  covered  with  a  casing. 

22.  Hips  should  stand  perfectly  at  an  angle  of 
45  degrees  with  the  plates  on  plan,  as  by  this  ar¬ 
rangement  the  rafters  on  either  side  are  equal  in 
length,  inclination,  and  bevel  at  the  ends,  making 
the  construction  both  symmetrical  and  economi¬ 
cal. 

23.  "When  the  span  is  of  such  extent  that  the 
end  purlin  is  longer  than  those  of  the  side  bays,  a 
half  truss  should  be  introduced  at  the  center  of  the 
end,  with  its  tie-beam  trimmed  into  the  end  trans¬ 
verse  truss. 

24.  All  the  abutment  joints  in  a  framed,  truss 
should  be  at  right  angles  with  the  direction  of 
thrust,  and  when  this  is  parallel  with  the  edges  of 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


255 


the  member,  the  shoulders  may  be  cut  square  with 
the  back  of  such  member. 

25.  To  resist  the  racking  movement  in  roofs, 
an  effectual  plan  consists  in  the  employment  of 
wind  ties  of  iron.  These  extend  usually  from 
the  head  of  one  principal  to  the  foot  of  the  next 
principal,  but  one  on  the  same  side  of  the  roof,  and 
again  from  the  head  of  this  latter  principal  to  the 
foot  of  the  first  one,  so  that  the  tie  rods  cross  one 
another  in  the  form  of  an  X.  It  is  difficult  to  esti¬ 
mate  the  stress  which  will  come  upon  these  ties ; 
but  very  small  sections,  say  from  %  in.  to  %  in., 
will  generally  suffice  for  the  purpose. 

26.  The  amount  of  horizontal  thrust  at  the 
foot  of  a  principal  rafter  depends  partly  upon  the 
weight  of  the  truss  and  the  loads  or  stresses  which 
it  has  to  sustain,  and  partly  upon  the  inclination  of 
the  rafter.  The  lower  the  pitch  of  the  roof,  the 
greater  is  the  proportion  of  thrust  to  weight,  so 
that  for  roofs  flatter  than  quarter  pitch  stronger 
tie  beams  will  be  necessary. 

27.  In  queen  post  trusses  the  position  of  the 
queen  posts  may  vary.  Generally,  however,  when 
there  are  no  rooms  in  the  roof,  they  are  placed  at 
one-third  of  the  span  from  the  wall. 

28.  When  rooms  are  formed  in  queen  post 
roofs,  the  distance  between  the  queens  may  con¬ 
veniently  be  half  the  span  or  more,  but  in  such  in¬ 
stances  the  depth  of  tie-beam  should  be  increased. 

29.  The  best  form  of  roof  truss  to  be  used  in 


256 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


any  situation  may  be  determined  by  the  following 
considerations:  (1)  The  parts  of  the  truss  be¬ 
tween  the  points  of  support  should  not  be  so  long 
as  to  have  any  tendency  to  bend  under  the  thrust 
- — therefore,  the  lengths  of  the  parts  under  com¬ 
pression  should  not  exceed  twenty  times  their 
smallest  dimensions;  (2)  The  distance  apart  of 
the  purlins  should  not  be  so  great  as  to  necessitate 
the  use  of  either  purlins  or  rafters  too  large  for 
convenience  or  economy;  (3)  The  tie-beam 
should  be  supported  at  such  small  intervals  that  it 
need  not  be  too  large  for  economy. 

30.  It  has  been  found  by  exjoerience  that  these 
objects  can  be  attained  by  limiting  the  distance  be¬ 
tween  the  points  of  support  on  the  principal  rafter 
to  8  ft.,  and  upon  the  tie-beam  to  15  ft. 

31.  To  determine  the  form  of  roof  truss  for 
any  given  span,  it  is,  therefore  necessary  first  to 
decide  the  pitch,  then  roughly  to  draw  the  princi¬ 
pal  rafters  in  position,  ascertain  their  length,  di¬ 
vide  them  into  portions  8  ft.  long,  and  place  a 
strut  under  each  point  of  division.  By  this  it  will 
be  seen  that  a  king  post  truss  is  adapted  for  a 
roof,  with  principal  rafters  16  ft.  long — i.  e.,  those 
having  a  span  of  30  ft. 

32.  A  queen  post  truss  would  be  adapted  to  a 
roof  with  principals  24  ft.  long — i.  e.,  about  45  ft. 
span.  For  greater  spans,  with  longer  principals, 
compound  roofs  are  required. 

33.  In  the  case  of  a  roof  with  three  spans,  sub- 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


257 


ject  to  the  effects  of  lateral  wind  pressure,  when 
supported  on  side  walls  with  intermediate  col¬ 
umns,  where  the  situation  does  not  permit  either 
the  addition  of  buttresses  or  of  anchorage  in  these 
side  walls,  the  horizontal  reaction  of  the  wind 
pressure  may  be  taken  by  bracing  the  interme¬ 
diate  columns  to  a  concrete  foundation. 

34.  The  shoulders  at  the  foot  of  king  and  queen 
post  trusses  should  be  cut  short  when  framed,  to 
prevent  the  tie-beam  sagging  when  the  truss  has 
settled,  the  usual  allowance  being  y2  in.  for  each 
10  ft.  of  span. 

35.  Scarfing  requires  great  accuracy  in  execu¬ 
tion,  because  if  the  indents  do  not  bear  equally,  the 
greater  part  of  the  strength  will  be  lost;  hence  it 
is  improper  to  use  very  complicated  forms. 

36.  The  simplest  form  of  joint  is,  as  a  rule,  the 
strongest;  complicated  joints  are  to  be  admired 
more  for  the  ingenuity  and  skill  of  the  carpenter 
in  contriving  and  fitting  than  for  their  strength  of 
construction. 

37.  In  scarfing,  when  bolts  are  used,  about  four 
times  the  depth  of  the  timber  is  the  usual  length 
for  a  scarf. 

38.  Scarfed  tension  joints  should  be  fitted  with 
folding  wedges,  so  as  to  admit  of  their  being  tight¬ 
ened  up.  The  wedges  should  be  of  oak  or  other 
suitable  hard  wood. 

39.  Galvanized  iron  bolts  do  not  act  upon  oak, 


258 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


either  in  sea  or  in  fresh  water,  when  care  has  been 
taken  not  to  remove  the  zinc  in  driving  them. 

40.  In  calculating  the  weight  of  roof  coverings, 
about  10  per  cent  should  be  added  to  weight  of 
tiles  for  moisture. 

41.  Valley  boards  are  used  sometimes  on  small 
roofs  in  place  of  valley  rafters.  The  main  roof  is 
continued  through  in  the  usual  way,  and  a  1  in.  by 
9  in.  board  is  nailed  up  the  rafters  on  each  side  at 
the  intersection  of  the  two  roofs  to  receive  the  feet 
of  the  jack  rafters. 

42.  To  carry  ridge  boards,  the  purlins,  ridge, 
and  wall-plates  should  oversail  gable  ends  12  in. 
or  18  in.,  and  short  purlin  pieces  should  be  cogged 
on  the  principals  every  3  ft.  for  additional  fixings 
when  the  barges  are  very  wide  and  heavy. 

43.  Finals  are  fixed  on  the  end  of  the  ridge 
board  with  stub  tenons,  drawbore  pinned,  paint 
being  applied  to  the  tenon. 

44.  All  openings  in  a  roof  should  be  trimmed; 
that  is,  cross-pieces  should  be  framed  between  the 
two  rafters  bounding  the  opening  to  carry  the 
ends  of  the  intermediate  ones  cut  away. 

45.  The  trimmer,  as  the  cross  bearer  is  called, 
is  fixed  square  with  the  pitch  of  the  roof,  tusk- 
tenoned  and  wedged  at  the  ends,  and  the  stopped 
rafters  are  stub-tenoned  into  it. 

46.  When  the  opening  is  for  a  chimney,  pro¬ 
vision  must  be  made  for  a  gutter  at  the  top.  Bear¬ 
ers,  3  in.  by  2  in.,  are  nailed  to  the  sides  of  the 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


259 


rafters,  level,  with  their  ends  abutting  against  the 
chimney  stack;  a  1  in.  gutter  board  is  nailed  on 
these,  and  a  9  in.  lear  board  at  the  side  on  the  raf¬ 
ters.  About  3  in.  up  the  slope  a  %  in.  tilting  fillet 
is  fixed,  and  over  this  the  lead  is  dressed,  the  other 
side  being  taken  up  the  back  of  the  chimney  for 
6  in.,  and  covered  with  an  apron  flashing. 

47.  Other  openings,  such  as  those  for  skylights 
and  trapdoors,  are  trimmed  in  the  same  way,  and 
covered  with  wrought  linings  or  stout  frames, 
dove-tailed  at  the  angles,  called  curbs. 

48.  Sizes  of  wall  plates  for  20  ft.  span,  4 y2  in. 
by  3  in. ;  for  30  ft.,  6  in.  by  4  in. ;  for  40  ft.,  7*4  in* 
by  5  in. 

49.  Ground  floor  wall  plates  are  best  of  oak, 
and  a  damp  course  should  be  put  under  them. 

50.  The  wall  plates  to  upper  floors  can  be  kept 
clear  of  the  walls  on  3  in.  rough  quarried  stone 
corbling  built  into  the  wall  and  projecting  over 
41/2  in.,  and  supported  by  two  courses  of  brick 
oversailing,  roughly  splayed  off  to  the  shape  of 
the  plaster  cornice  which  will  cover  them.  The 
floor  joists  are  thus  kept  clear  of  the  wall  and  can 
be  strengthened  by  solid  strutting  between  the 
ends. 

51.  All  wall-plates  should  be  bolted  down  to 
the  wall,  and  the  bolts  should  be  built  into  the  wall 
as  shown  in  Fig.  306,  and  should  be  fitted  with  nut 
on  top  to  bind  down  the  plate. 

52.  Beams  or  roof  trusses  should  not  rest  over 


260 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


openings.  They  should  be  placed  with  their  ends 
in  pockets  in  the  wall,  and  resting  on  stone  tem¬ 
plates. 

53.  They  should  frame  into  girders  with  stub 
tusk  tenons  and  oak  joins,  or,  better,  should  hang 
in  iron  stirrups. 


Fig.  306. 


54.  Binders  should  not  be  more  than  6  ft.,  nor 
girders  more  than  10  ft.  apart. 

These  general  rules  should  be  followed  as  close 
ly  as  possible  in  the  making  of  heavy  timber  roofs, 
but  of  course,  must  be  changed  or  adapted  to  suit 
the  many  various  conditions  that  are  sure  to  arise. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


261 


There  are  many  kinds  or  forms  of  roofs,  a  few 
of  which  I  show  in  the  sketches  submitted  which 
are  original  types.  When  these  are  crossed,  mixed, 
modified  or  combined  in  one  building  or  group  of 
buildings,  the  results  are  not  only  beyond  all  com¬ 
putation,  but  are  not  unfrequently  fearful  and 
wonderful  to  behold. 

To  diminish  the  excessive  height  of  roofs,  their 
sharp  summit  is  sometimes  suppressed  and  re¬ 
placed  by  a  roof  of  a  lower  slope.  These  roofs 
have  the  advantage  of  giving  ample  attic  space 
with  a  smaller  height  than  would  be  required  by  a 
V-roof.  They  are  variously  known  as  “curb”  or 
“gambrel”  roofs,  and  “Mansard”  roofs,  the  lat¬ 
ter  name  being  usually  confined  to  those  roofs  in 
which  the  lower  slopes  form  angles  of  not  less 
than  60  degrees  with  the  horizontal  plane,  while 
roofs  of  smaller  pitch  are  known  as  “curb”  or 
“gambrel”  roofs. 

The  Mansard  roof  may  be  described  in  several 
ways:  (See  Fig.  307.) 

The  triangle  a  d  b,  represents  the  profile  of  a 
high-pitched  roof,  the  height  being  equal  to  the 
base,  and  the  basal  angles  being  therefore  60  de¬ 
grees  each.  At  the  point  e,  in  the  middle  of  the 
height  c  d,  draw  a  line  horizontally  h  e  i,  parallel 
to  the  base  a  b,  to  represent  the  upper  side  of  the 
tie-beam,  and  make  e  f  equal  to  the  half  of  e  dj 
then  a  h  f  i  b  will  be  the  profile  of  the  Mansard 
roof. 


262 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


Make  c  e,  the  height  of  the  lower  roof,  equal  to 
half  the  width  a  b,  and  construct  the  two  squares 
a  d  e  c,  c  e  g  b;  also  make  d  h,  e  f,  and  g  i  each 
equal  to  one-tliird  of  the  side  of  either  square; 
then  will  a  h  f  i  b,.  be  the  profile  required. 


Fig.  307. 


On  the  base  a  b  draw  the  semicircle  a  d  b,  and 
divide  it  into  four  equal  parts,  a  e,  e  d,  d  f,  f  b; 
join  the  points  of  division,  and  the  resulting  semi¬ 
octagon  is  the  profile  required.  The  slopes  of  the 
upper  roof  form  angles  of  only  22t/4  degrees,  and 
this  roof  is  therefore  considerably  less  than 
“quarter-pitch,”  and  would  be  unsuitable  for  cov¬ 
ering  with  slates,  tiles,  shingles,  etc. 

Whatever  be  the  height  of  the  Mansard  c  e,  or 
b  g,  or  g  i,  equal  to  the  half  of  that  height,  and  the 
height  e  f  of  the  false  roof  equal  to  the  half  of  e  i. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


263 


The  upper  roof,  therefore,  is  exactly  “quarter- 
pitch.  ’  ’ 

The  form  of  the  Mansard  roof,  it  will  be  seen, 
may  be  infinitely  varied,  according  to  the  fancy 
of  the  designer,  the  purposes  for  which  the  roof- 
space  is  required,  and  the  nature  of  the  roof-cov¬ 
ering.  In  many  cases  the  lower  slopes  are  made 
of  curved  outline,  as  may  be  seen  later  on,  or  as 
shown  in  No.  6,  in  the  sketches. 

It  is  now  in  order  to  give  a  few  examples  of  a 
practical  nature,  and  I  will  endeavor  to  do  this 
without  confusing  the  workman  with  a  network  of 
figures  or  mathematical  formula :  Like  floors, 
roofs  may  be  divided  into  three  kinds,  according 
to  the  arrangement  of  their  timbering,  as  follows : 

1.  Single-Rafter  Roofs. 

2.  Double-Rafter  Roofs. 

3.  Triple-Rafter  Roofs. 

1.  Single-Rafter  Roofs  are  such  that  one  roof 
covering  is  supported  upon  a  single  system  of 
rafters  not  greater  than  two  feet  from  center  to 
center  apart.  It  should  be  used  only  when  the 
span  is  not  greater  than  26  feet.  A  number  of  ex¬ 
amples  of  this  kind  of  a  roof  are  shown  in  Fig. 
308.  Other  similar  examples  will  be  shown  later 
on. 

Lean-to  roofs  are  found  in  a  single  slope,  as 
shown  at  A,  the  upper  end  of  the  rafters  being 
spiked  to  a  wall-plate  or  bond  timber  supported 


264 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


on  a  corbel,  and  the  lower  end  bird’s-mouthed  to 
a  wall-plate  on  the  lower  wall.  This  roof  should 
not  be  used  for  a  span  greater  than  14  feet,  unless 
the  rafters  are  braced  or  otherwise  supported 
near  their  centers.  When  a  wall  occurs  conven¬ 
iently  near  the  center  of  the  building,  the  roof 
may  slope  down  towards  the  center,  where  a  gut¬ 
ter  or  trough  may  be  placed  to  carry  off  the  rain 
or  snow  water.  A  double  lean-to  roof  of  this  kind 
is  sometimes  called  a  V-roof,  on  account  of  the 
shape  of  its  section. 

Couple  or  span  roofs  are  formed  as  shown  at 
B,  the  upper  ends  of  the  rafters  being  abutted 
against  and  spiked  to  a  ridge  board,  while  the  low¬ 
er  ends  are  either  bird’s-mouthed  over  and  spiked 
to  a  wall-plate,  or  crow-footed  over  the  outside  of 
the  plate  and  left  projecting  beyond  the  wall  to 
form  an  eave  for  cornice.  This  form  of  roof 
should  only  be  used  on  short  spans  unless  the 
walls  are  thick  and  firm,  or  the  rafters  are  tied  at 
the  bottom  to  keep  from  spreading,  as  an  outward 
thrust  is  exerted  by  the  feet  of  the  rafters. 

Couple  close  roofs  are  similar  to  the  previous 
one,  but  have  the  feet  of  the  rafters  tied  together 
by  means  of  tie-beams  fastened  to  the  rafters,  as 
shown  at  C  Fig.  308.  The  soundest  roof  is  pro¬ 
cured  by  tying  the  feet  of  every  pair  of  rafters, 
and  indeed,  this  is  necessary  when  a  ceiling  is  to 
be  attached  to  the  ties;  but  when  a  roof  is  open  a 
tie  is  rarely  used  more  frequently  than  one  for 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


265 


Suggestions  of  Dormer  "Windows 
in  Roofs. 


The  Pent  or  Shed  Roof. 


Hip  Roof  wiih  Broken 
Rafters. 


Ornamented  Gable  in  the 
English  Style. 


Gable  with  Ornamented  Verge-Boards. 


Plate  No.  1 


266 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


Oable  Roof  with  Horizontal  Fragment  from,  an  Ancient 

Cornice  Returns.  Castle. 


Oable  and  Shed  Roof 
Combined. 


A  Bell  Shaped 
Turret. 


Plofp  TCn  2. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


267 


every  third  or  fourth  pair  of  rafters.  This  roof 
may  be  employed  for  spans  up  to  30  ft.  At  C,  a 
roof  is  shown  over  a  span  of  26  feet,  but  if  larger 


9x  I't  Poorcf. 


(cufite  (3ofle$oo|! 


Cellar 


Fig.  308. 

roofs  are  to  be  constructed  in  this  form  the  ridge- 
hoard  should  be  one  inch  deeper  for  every  foot  ad¬ 
ditional  to  the  span  See  Plates  1  and  2,  “Types 
of  Roofs.” 


268 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


When  the  span  is  unusually  great,  it  is  more 
economical  to  suspend  the  ties  to  rafters  every  six 
or  eight  feet.  The  ties  between  the  bolts  are 
housed  into  and  spiked  to  a  horizontal  timber 
which  is  suspended  by  the  bolts,  as  shown  at  D. 
When  suspension  bolts  are  used  the  depth  of  the 
ties  may  be  half  of  that  given  in  the  foregoing 
rule. 

Collar-beam  roofs  are  formed  like  couple  roofs 
with  a  beam  or  joist  spiked  or  bolted  to  the  rafters 
as  shown  at  E.  This  type  of  roof  is  employed 
when  a  greater  amount  of  head  room  is  required 
than  can  be  obtained  in  a  couple-close  roof,  but  it 
is  not  a  sound  roof,  as  it  always  exerts  a  thrust 
upon  the  walls.  The  collars  being  used  to  pre¬ 
vent  the  rafters  from  sagging,  are  in  a  state  of 
compression,  and  do  not  tie  the  rafters  together 
as  they  are  generally  supposed  to  do. 

Double  or  Purlin  roofs  are  composed  of  two  se¬ 
ries  of  timbers,  as  shown  in  Fig.  309,  in  which  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  roofs  are  composed  of  com¬ 
mon  rafters  supported  by  means  of  purlins,  for 
which  reason  this  kind  of  roof  is  often  called  a 
purlin  roof. 

This  sort  of  roof  may  be  used  for  any  span 
whatever  when  the  gable  walls  are  not  too  far 
apart,  or  when  the  rafters  can  be  supported  by 
studding  from  floor  or  central  wall. 

The  outline  of  this  roof,  Fig.  309,  shows  it 
up  as  a  “Mansard  roof,”  the  upper  portion  being 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


269 


practically  a  “couple-close”  roof,  the  rafters  rest¬ 
ing  upon  purlins  which  are  tied  together  by  the 
ceiling  joists,  by  bolts  or  heavy  spikes.  The  lower 
rafters  are  practically  independent  of  the  upper 
portion  of  the  roof,  being  merely  bearers  for  the 
roof  covering,  and  are  secured  by  spiking  them  to 
the  upper  end  of  the  purlin,  and  at  the  lower  end 
to  the  wall-plate.  The  feet  of  these  lower  rafters 
do  not  need  tying,  as  their  inclination  to  the  verti¬ 
cal  is  so  small. 


A  couple  of  good  purlin  roofs  suitable  for  many 
places,  are  shown  in  Figs.  310  and  311. 

The  one  shown  at  Fig.  310  is  known  as  a  queen 
post  truss,  but  having  queen  rods  instead  of  posts. 
Two  additional  braces  and  one  rod  have  been 
added  to  the  members  of  the  truss  so  as  to  take  up 
the  half  load  between  the  points  F  and  H.  Ac¬ 
cording  to  the  conditions  of  loading  it  has  been 


270 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


formed  sufficiently  strong  to  bear  all  the  load  it 
may  ordinarily  be  called  upon  to  resist. 


Taking  the  roof  load  first  and  assuming  40 
pounds  per  square  foot,  including  wind,  snow  and 
weight  of  roof  itself,  it  is  found  that  a  load  of 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


271 


about  7280  pounds  will  be  concentrated  at  or  near 
the  points  E  and  C.  This  load  will  cause  a  stress 
of  about  13,500  pounds  compression  in  each  of  the 
rafters  A  E  and  C  B ;  also  a  compression  strain 
of  11,300  pounds  in  the  straining  beam  E  C,  as 
well  as  a  tensile  strain  of  about  11,300  pounds  in 
the  tie  beam  A  B.  In  computing  the  strains  due 
to  the  floor  load,  200  pounds  per  square  foot  of 
floor  area  have  been  taken,  including  the  weight  of 
the  flooring  and  the  weight  of  the  truss  itself.  The 
following  table  gives  the  strain  on  all  the  members 
of  the  truss  due  to  both  loads : 

Pounds. 


Main  rafters  A  E  and  C  B . .  .65,450 

Straining  beam  E  C . 41,800 

Tie  beam  A  B . 55,050 

Suspension  rod  D  G . 16,800 

Braces  D  F  or  D  H . 15,700 

Rods  E  F  or  C  H . 28,000 


These  figures  are,  of  course,  only  approximate, 
owing  to  the  assumptions  which  have  been  made 
and  the  smallness  of  the  diagram  submitted,  but 
they  are  of  sufficient  accuracy  to  draw  the  follow¬ 
ing  conclusions :  First,  that  the  truss  as  shown  in 
Fig.  310,  is  sufficiently  strong  to  carry  with  entire 
safety  the  assumed  loads  here  quoted,  provided, 
however,  the  points  of  supports  at  A  and  B  are 
sufficiently  strong.  From  the  diagram  it  appears 
as  if  the  tie  beam  was  tenoned  into  an  upright  post 
at  each  end  and  the  parts  pinned  together.  Con- 


272 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


sidering  the  heavy  load  liable  to  be  placed  on  a 
truss  of  this  kind,  it  would  seem  doubtful  whether 
this  point  is  strong  enough.  In  Fig.  311  I  pre¬ 
sent  a  view  of  a  truss  in  which  an  attempt  has  been 
made  to  improve  on  Fig.  310,  using  the  same 
amount  of  material.  It  will  be  seen  that  the 
depth  has  been  increased  somewhat,  which  insures 
greater  rigidity,  and  also  gives  the  rafters  less  in- 


Fig.  312. 


clination  to  the  horizontal,  thus  causing  the  strain 
to  become  less  under  the  same  load.  It  also  af¬ 
fords  better  facilities  for  passing  through  the 
space  between  the  members  from  one  portion  of 
the  floor  to  the  other.  Again,  the  purlins  rest  di¬ 
rectly  on  the  trusses,  thus  doing  away  with  the 
long  4x5  inch  braces  and  also  the  short  7x7  inch 
posts.  The  small  4x4  inch  braces  shown  in  Fig. 
310,  can  be  dispensed  with,  as  they  receive  no 
strains  whatever. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


273 


The  following  diagram,  Fig.  312,  shows  the  ele¬ 
vation  of  a  king-post  roof  suitable  for  a  span  of 
35  or  40  feet. 

By  the  rules  for  calculating  the  sizes  of  timbers 
the  dimensions  will  be  found  to  be  as  follows : 


A,  Tie-beam  . 13x5  inches. 

B,  Principal  rafters . 8^x5  inches. 

C,  Struts  . 4x2 y2  inches. 

D,  King-post . 71/2x5  inches. 

Fig.  313  is  the  design  for  a  king-post  roof,  for 
a  span  of  from  40  to  45  feet. 

The  purlins  here  are  shown  framed  into  the 
principals,  a  mode  of  construction  to  be  avoided, 
unless  rendered  absolutely  necessary  by  particu¬ 
lar  circumstances. 

The  scantling,  as  determined  by  the  rules,  is  as 
follows : 


Principal  rafters 

Tie-beam  . 

King-post . 

Struts  . 

Purlins  . 


10x5  inches. 
111/2x6  inches. 
.  7%x6  inches. 
4x21/4  inches. 
10x6  inches. 


The  principals  being  10  feet  apart. 

Fig.  314  shows  a  compound  roof  for  a  span  of 
40  feet.  It  is  composed  of  a  curved  rib  c  c,  formed 
of  two  thicknesses  of  2-inch  plank  bolted  together. 
Its  ends  are  let  into  the  tie-beam ;  and  it  is  also 
firmly  braced  to  the  tie-beam  by  the  king-post  and 


274 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


suspending  pieces  B  B,  which  are  each  in  two 
thicknesses,  one  on  each  side  of  the  rib  and  tie- 
beam,  and  by  the  straps  a  a.  A  is  the  rafter;  d, 


the  gutter-bearer;  c  and  b,  the  straps  of  the  king¬ 
post.  The  second  purlins,  it  will  be  observed,  are 
carried  by  the  upper  end  of  the  suspending  pieces 
B  B. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


275 


Fig.  315  shows  a  queen-post  roof  for  a  span  of 
60  feet.  This  truss  is  designed  on  the  same  prin¬ 
ciple  as  Fig.  311,  that  is,  with  queen-posts  B,  and 
additionally  strengthened  by  suspension  post  A. 
These  are  strapped  up  to  the  tie-beam  by  wrought- 
iron  straps,  made  of  %  by  3-inch  iron,  bolted  to 
the  posts.  The  pitch  of  the  principal  rafter  is  less 
somewhat  than  over  Fig.  311. 


Fig.  314. 


The  scantlings  are  as  follows: 

Principal  rafters  . 11  x  6  inches 

Tie-beam  . 121/2  x  6  inches 

Queen-post  B . .  8  x  6  inches 

Suspending-post  A .  314  x  3y2  inches 

Struts  (large)  .  414  x  31/2  inches 

Struts  (small)  .  3i/2  x  2%  inches 

Figs.  316  and  317  show  the  use  and  application 
of  wrought  iron  in  those  portions  acting  as  ties. 
These  trusses  are  suitable  for  railroad  sheds,  or 


276 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


Lf5 

y— I 
CO 

be 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


277 


where  it  is  desirable  to  have  the  tie-rods  raised 
from  a  level  line  so  as  to  give  greater  height  in 
the  center.  The  sizes  of  timber  for  design  316 
are  as  follows: 


Principal  rafters  . 

. 12 

x  8 

inches 

Struts  . 

.  8 

x  8 

inches 

Purlins  . 

. 10 

x  4 

inches 

Common  rafters  . . 

.  41/2 

x  2 

inches 

Tie-rod  and  suspending  rod. . .  1  y2  in.  diameter. 


The  timbers  for  design  317  are  as  follows : 


Principals  . 

,14 

x  8 

inches 

Collar-pieces  . 

.11 

x  3 

inches 

(One  on  each  side  of  rafter.) 

Purlins  . 

.16 

x  4 

inches 

Tie-rods  and  suspending-rod. .  1%  in.  diameter. 

The  span  of  truss,  Fig.  316,  is  36,  and  that  of 
Fig.  317,  45  feet. 

Fig.  318  shows  a  platform  roof  of  35  feet  span. 
The  tie-beam  in  this  example  is  scarfed  at  a  and 
h,  and  the  center  portion  of  the  truss  has  counter¬ 
braces,  c  c.  The  longitudinal  pieces,  e  e,  are  se¬ 
cured  to  the  heads  of  the  queen-posts,  and  the 
pieces  d  carry  the  platform  rafters  A.  In  this 
connection  it  may  be  of  importance  to  the  better 
understanding  of  the  principles  of  strength  en¬ 
tering  into  combination  roof  trusses  to  give  Tred- 
gold’s  rules  for  finding  the  proper  dimensions  of 
the  timbers  forming  king  and  queen-post  trusses, 
which  are  quite  simple. 


278 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


Rule. — Multiply  the  square  of  the  length  in  feet 
by  the  span  in  feet,  and  divide  the  product  by  the 
cube  of  the  thickness  in  inches;  then  multiply  the 
quotient  by  0.96  to  obtain  the  depth  in  inches. 


Mr.  Tredgold  gives  also  the  following  rule  for 
the  rafters,  as  more  general  and  reliable: 


Fis.  317. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


279 


Multiply  the  square  of  the  span  in  feet  by  the 
distance  between  the  principals  in  feet,  and  divide 
the  product  by  60  times  the  rise  in  feet;  the 
quotient  will  be  the  area  of  the  section  of  the 
rafter  in  inches. 


If  the  rise  is  one-fourth  of  the  span,  multiply 
the  span  by  the  distance  between  the  principals, 
and  divide  by  15  for  the  area  of  section. 


280 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


When  the  distance  between  the  principals  is  10 
feet,  the  area  of  section  is  two-tliirds  of  the  span. 

To  find  the  dimensions  of  the  tie-beam,  when  it 
has  to  support  a  ceiling  only: 

Rule. — Divide  the  length  of  the  longest  unsup¬ 
ported  part  by  the  cube  root  of  the  breadth,  and 
the  quotient  multiplied  by  1.47  will  give  depth  in 
inches. 

To  find  the  dimensions  of  the  king-post: 

Rule. — Multiply  the  length  of  the  post  in  feet 
by  the  span  in  feet;  multiply  the  product  by  0.12, 
which  will  give  the  area  of  the  section  of  the  post 
in  inches.  Divide  this  by  the  breadth  for  the  thick¬ 
ness,  or  by  the  thickness  for  the  breadth. 

To  find  the  dimensions  of  struts : 

Rule. — Multiply  the  square  root  of  the  length 
supported  in  feet  by  the  length  of  the  strut  in  feet, 
and  the  square  root  of  the  product  multiplied  by 
0.8  will  give  the  depth,  which,  multiplied  by  0.6, 
will  give  the  thickness. 

In  a  queen-post  roof.  To  find  the  dimensions 
of  the  principal  rafters: 

Rule. — Multiply  the  square  of  the  length  in  feet 
by  the  span  in  feet,  and  divide  the  product  by  the 
cube  of  the  thickness  in  inches;  the  quotient  multi¬ 
plied  by  0.155  will  give  the  depth. 

To  find  the  dimensions  of  the  tie-beam : 

Rule. — Divide  the  length  of  the  longest  unsup¬ 
ported  part  by  the  cube  root  of  the  breadth,  and 
the  quotient  multiplied  by  1.47  will  give  the  depth. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


281 


To  find  the  dimensions  of  the  queen-posts : 

Rule. — Multiply  the  length  in  feet  of  that  part 
of  the  tie-beam  it  supports;  the  product,  multi¬ 
plied  by  0.27,  will  give  the  area  of  the  post  in 
inches;  and  the  breadth  and  thickness  can  be 
found  as  in  the  king-post. 

The  dimensions  of  the  struts  are  found  as  be¬ 
fore. 

To  find  the  dimensions  of  a  straining-beam : 

Rule. — Multiply  the  square  root  of  the  span  in 
feet  by  the  length  of  the  straining-heam  in  feet, 
and  extract  the  square  root  of  the  product ;  multi¬ 
ply  the  result  by  0.9,  which  will  give  the  depth  in 
inches.  The  beam,  to  have  the  greatest  strength, 
should  have  its  depth  to  its  breadth  in  the  ratio  of 
10  to  7 ;  therefore,  to  find  the  breadth,  multiply  the 
depth  by  0.7. 

To  find  the  dimensions  of  purlins: 

Rule. — Multiply  the  cube  of  the  length  of  the 
purlin  in  feet  by  the  distance  the  purlins  are  apart 
in  feet,  and  the  fourth  root  of  the  product  will 
give  the  depth  in  inches,  and  the  depth  multiplied 
by  0.6  will  give  the  thickness. 

To  find  the  dimensions  of  common  rafters,  when 
they  are  placed  12  inches  apart: 

Rule. — Divide  the  length  of  bearing  in  feet  by 
the  cube  root  of  the  breadth  in  inches,  and  the 
quotient  multiplied  by  0.72  will  give  the  depth  in 
inches. 

It  may  be  well  to  note  some  practical  memor- 


282 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


anda  of  construction  which  cannot  be  too  closely 
kept  in  mind  in  designing  roofs. 

Beams  acting  as  struts  should  not  be  cut  into 
or  mortised  on  one  side,  so  as  to  cause  lateral 
yielding: 

Purlins  should  never  be  framed  into  the  princi¬ 
pal  rafters,  hut  should  be  notched.  When  notched 
they  will  carry  nearly  twice  as  much  as  when 
framed. 


Purlins  should  be  in  as  long  pieces  as  possible. 

Horizontal  rafters  are  good  in  construction,  and 
cost  less  than  purlins  and  common  rafters. 

At  Fig.  319  I  show  one  of  the  principals  of  the 
roof  of  a  church.  The  following  are  the  dimen¬ 
sions  of  the  timbers: 

There  are  five  principal  trusses,  placed  14  feet 
apart. 

A,  tie-beam,  in  two  thicknesses,  14  x  10  inches. 

Principal  rafters,  13  inches  deep  at  bottom,  HV2 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


s83 


inches  at  top  and  10 4  inches  thick.  The  rafters 
bear  on  oak  abutment  pieces  11  x  74  inches,  bolted 
between  the  ties  and  to  each  other. 

D,  collar-beam,  in  two  thicknesses,  one  on  each 
side  of  the  rafter,  and  notched  and  bolted,  12  x 
51/2  inches  each. 

E,  purlins.  The  two  lower,  13  x  64-  inches ;  the 
upper,  11  4  x  81/2  inches;  notched  on  the  rafters 
and  bolted. 

F,  common  rafters,  514  x  24  inches,  and  13 
inches  apart. 

The  discharging  posts  between  the  bracket 
pieces  and  the  stone  corbel  are  of  oak,  6  inches 
square. 

The  dimensions  of  the  ironwork  are  as  follows : 
King-rod,  1%  in*  square,  with  a  cast-iron  key 
piece  at  top. 

Queen-rods,  1  4  in.  square,  having  solid  heads  at 
rafters  and  secured  at  foot  by  being  passed 
through  solid  oak  pieces  k,  placed  between 
flitches  of  the  tie-beam  and  securely  bolted, 
and  there  fastened  with  cast-iron  washers  and 
nuts. 

Four  bolts  at  abutment  end  of  ties. . .  .74  in.  sq. 


Two  bolts  at  each  oak  piece,  for  sus¬ 
pending  rods  .  %  in-  sq. 

Two  bolts  at  each  end  of  collar-beam. .  %  in.  sq. 
Purlin  bolts  .  %  in.  sq. 


The  following  example,  Fig.  320,  is  taken  from 
Bell’s  Carpentry,  and  shows  a  strong  roof,  one 


284 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


that  will  suit  admirably  for  a  factory  or  machine- 
shop  where  there  is  likely  to  be  jars  or  shakes 
caused  by  the  machines  in  motion,  or  the  rolling  in 
of  heavy  freight.  This  roof  may  have  a  span  of 
fifty  feet,  or  even  more  if  necessary.  The  princi¬ 
pal  rafter  is  set  back  a  foot  from  the  end  of  the 
tie-beam  to  give  room  for  the  wall-plate ;  the  rise 
of  the  roof  is  5  inches  to  the  foot.  In  framing 
roofs  of  this  kind  the  supporting  rods  should  be 
furnished  before  commencing  the  frame ;  for  then 


the  length  of  the  short  principal  rafters  and  that 
of  the  straining  beam  can  be  regulated  or  propor¬ 
tioned  according  to  the  length  of  the  rods.  It  is 
best,  however,  for  the  middle  rod  to  be  twice  the 
length  of  the  short  ones,  reckoning  from  the  upper 
surface  of  the  beam  to  the  upper  surface  of  the 
principal  rafters,  and  allowing  one  foot  more  to 
each  rod  for  the  thickness  of  the  beam,  and  the  nut 
and  washer.  For  example,  the  middle  rod  is  11 
feet  long  and  the  short  ones  6  feet  each;  which, 
after  allowing  1  foot,  as  above  mentioned,  makes 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


285 


the  length  of  the  long  one,  above  the  work  side 
of  the  beam,  twice  that  of  the  short  ones. 

The  length  of  the  rod  above  the  beam  is  the  rise 
of  the  rafter,  and  the  distance  from  the  center  of 
the  rod  to  the  foot  of  the  rafter  is  the  run  of  the 
rafter;  the  length  of  the  rafter  can,  therefore,  be 
found  by  the  usual  way. 

To  find  the  length  of  the  straining  beam,  add 
the  run  of  the  short  principal  rafter  to  the  lower 
end  bevel  of  the  long  one;  substract  this  run  from 
the  run  of  the  long  principal,  and  the  difference 
will  be  half  the  length  of  the  straining  beam. 


The  bolsters  under  the  ends  of  the  tie-beams 
are  of  the  same  thickness  as  that,  and  about  5  feet 
long. 

Figs.  321  and  322  exhibit  designs  of  roofs  in  an 
improved  style,  particularly  adapted  to  those  of 
a  great  span,  as  they  may  be  safely  extended  to 
a  very  considerable  width,  with  less  increase  of 
weight,  and  less  proportionate  expense,  than  any 
of  the  older  styles.  The  principle  on  which  they 


286 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


are  constructed  is  essentially  the  same  as  that  of 
the  Howe  Bridge.  The  braces  are  square  at  the 
ends,  the  hardwood  blocks  between  them  being 
beveled  and  placed  as  shown  in  the  diagrams. 
Each  truss  of  this  frame  supports  a  purlin  post 
and  plate,  as  represented. 

These  roofs  are  easily  made  nearly  flat,  and 
thereby  adapted  to  metallic  covering,  by  carrying 
the  walls  above  the  tie  beams  to  any  desired  height, 
without  altering  the  pitch  of  the  principal  rafters, 


u 


- /A 

7/ 
// 
/  / 

// 

\\ 

w  -  '  • 

Mft. 


Fig.  322. 


which  ought  to  have  a  rise  of  at  least  4  inches  to 
the  foot,  to  give  sufficient  brace  to  the  upper  chord 
or  straining  beam. 

Fig.  321  is  represented  with  counter-braces ; 

and  Fig.  322  without  them.  The  counter-braces 

do  not  add  anything  to  the  mere  support  of  the 

roof,  and  are  entirely  unnecessary  in  frames  of 

churches,  or  other  public  buildings,  where  there 

is  no  jar;  but  they  may  very  properly  be  used  in 

mill  frames,  or  other  buildings  designed  for  heavy 

machinerv. 

%/ 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


287 


The  illustrations  do  not  show  the  whole  length 
of  the  roof,  hut  enough  of  the  construction  is 
shown  to  enable  the  workman  to  design  the  whole 
truss. 

Figs.  323,  324  and  325  exhibit  three  steep  or 
gothic  roofs  suitable  for  small  churches,  chapels 
or  similar  buildings  having  from  40  to  45  feet 


span.  Fig.  323  is  built  entirely  of  wood,  and  Fig. 
324  is  of  wood  strengthened  with  iron  straps  and 
bolts.  Fig.  325  contains  less  wood  than  either  of 
the  two  preceding  examples,  but  is  supported  by 
iron  rods  and  is  decidedly  the  stronger  roof  of 
the  three.  Fig.  323  makes  a  neat,  cheap  and  very 
simple  plan,  and  is  sufficiently  strong  enough  for 
efficient  service  on  any  ordinary  building  having  a 
span  of  not  more  than  35  or  45  feet. 


288 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


Fig.  325. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


289 


Fig.  326,  which  shows  an  arched  ceiling,  may  be 
formed  of  2-inoh  planks  from  6  to  10  inches  wide, 
which  should  be  planed  to  a  regular  thickness  and 
then  wrought  to  the  proper  curve  on  the  edges  as 
shown.  The  forms  thus  made  are  laid  one  over 
the  other,  breaking  all  joints,  and  may  be  in  two 
or  more  thicknesses,  and  then  spiked  or  bolted 
together  as  may  be  desired.  Intermediate  forms 


Fig.  326. 


of  lighter  and  rougher  material  must  be  made  to 
be  placed  between  the  finished  arches  to  carry 
lath  and  plaster,  and  should  be  spaced  so  that 
their  centers  would  be  16  inches  apart.  In  Fig. 
327  the  arch  should  be  formed  from  planks  3 
inches  thick,  and  12  inches  wide  and  in  three 
courses;  have  all  joints  broken  or  spliced  and 
then  well  spiked  or  bolted  together  and  may  be 
fastened  to  the  roof  braces  as  shown.  Inter- 


290 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


mediate  arches  or  ribs  will  be  required  to  carry 
lath  and  plaster,  same  as  in  Fig.  326.  Either  of 
these  roofs  will  answer  quite  well  for  a  span  from 
65  to  70  feet  between  the  supporting  column. 


I 


Fig.  327. 


Fig.  328  shows  a  cheaply  made  roof,  and  one 
that  is  suitable  for  small  spans.  This  is  some¬ 
times  called  a  scissor  roof,  because  of  the  two  main 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


291 


Figr.  329. 


292 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


braces  which  tie  the  feet,  collar  beam  and  rafters 
together,  cross  in  the  center. 

A  different  roof,  and  a  very  strong  one,  if  the 
workmanship  is  good,  is  shown  at  Fig.  329.  In 
this  A  A  represents  the  wall  plates,  which  are  4 
by  8  inches.  B  B  is  the  bottom  cord  of  truss,  6  by 


8  inches  in  section.  C  C  are  truss  rafters,  also  6 
by  8  inches  in  section.  I)  is  the  top  cord  of  truss 
of  the  same  dimensions.  E  E  shows  the  position 
of  the  second  plates,  which  are  6  by  6  in.  in  size 
and  are  notched  on  to  the  truss  rafters.  F  F  are 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


293 


braces  framed  at  the  top  into  C  C.  G  G  G  are 
iron  rods  used  in  strengthening  the  truss.  Each 
truss  rafter  is  bolted  at  the  foot  to  the  cord.  The 
trusses  should  be  placed  about  10  feet  apart.  The 
roof  rafters  should  be  about  22  inches  between 
centers. 


I  show  a  very  good  truss  in  Fig.  330.  This  is 
not  a  costly  roof,  but  is  very  strong  if  well  made. 
D  shows  the  king-post,  A  the  principal,  C  the 
cross-beam,  B  the  brace  and  R  a  supporting  post. 

Another  king-post  truss  is  shown  at  Fig.  331. 
This  truss  is  quite  easy  to  make  and  easy  to 
understand.  A  is  the  principal,  D  the  king-post 
and  C  the  tie  beam.  This  is  suitable  for  a  span 
of  from  30  to  35  feet. 


294 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


CO 

CO 

ijj 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


295 


Fig.  332  shows  a  truss  that  may  safely  be  used 
where  the  span  does  not  exceed  50  or  55  feet. 


The  truss  shown  at  Fig.  333  is  quite  suitable  for 
a  light  structure  of  about  30  feet  span.  The  pur¬ 
lin  posts  are  dovetailed  into  the  beam  and  keyed. 


296 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


This  makes  it  a  very  solid  and  stiff  roof,  and  one 
that  may  be  depended  upon  to  do  good  service. 

Fig.  334  shows  a  little  more  than  half  of  a  com¬ 
posite  roof.  The  rafters  and  struts  may  be  made 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


297 


of  pitchpine,  and  tlie  king-bolt  and  ties  of  iron. 
The  roof  is  to  carry  ordinary  slating,  and  the 
trusses  will  be  spaced  10  feet  apart.  No  holes  are 


Fig:.  335. 


bored  in  struts  or  rafters;  and  all  the  ironwork 
is  such  as  can  be  forged  from  the  bar  and  fitted 
by  a  country  blacksmith.  The  foot  rests  on  a 
stone  template. 


298 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


The  hammer-beam  truss  is  a  type  of  open  tim¬ 
ber  roof,  and  it  is  shown  in  Fig.  335,  the  letters 
in  which  have  the  following  references:  P  B,  prin¬ 
cipal  rafters;  K  P,  king-post;  C,  collar;  S  S, 
struts;  H  B,  hammer  beam;  U  B,  upper  bracket 
or  compass  piece;  L  B,  lower  bracket;  S  T,  stud. 
A  hammer  beam  truss  exerts  considerable  thrust, 
and,  therefore,  'substantial  walls  and  also  but¬ 
tresses  must  be  provided.  A  thickness  of  18  inches 
is  little  enough  for  sound  work  with  a  span  of  33 
feet,  but  possibly  the  walls  may  be  somewhat 
lightened  by  setting  the  window  openings  in  14-in. 
panels  and  adding  buttresses  outside  the  piers. 

Fig.  336  shows  the  finished  hammer  beam  roof. 
It  may  be  used  in  public  buildings  or  for  small 
churches  or  chapels,  the  trusses  being  placed  10  or 
12  feet  apart.  AAA  show  the  finishing  on  the 
timbers  and  B  B  the  drop  ornament.  The  two 
details,  A  and  B,  show  the  sections  on  a  large 
scale. 

The  example  shown  at  Fig.  337  is  an  illustra¬ 
tion  of  the  hammer  beam  roof  over  Westminster 
Hall,  London,  and  is  said  to  be  the  finest  of  its 
kind  in  the  world. 

Westminster  Hall  is  sixty-eight  feet  wide  be¬ 
tween  the  walls,  and  two-liundred  and  thirty-eight 
feet  long.  It  is  forty-two  feet  high  to  the  top  of 
the  walls,  and  ninety  feet  to  the  ridge  of  the  roof. 
It  is  divided  into  twelve  bays,  which  will  accord¬ 
ingly  average  nineteen  feet  ten  inches  each.  Con- 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


299 


Fig.  336. 


300 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


sequently  each  truss  lias  to  span  sixty-eight  feet, 
and  to  carry,  in  addition  to  its  own  wTeight,  the 
weight  of  slates,  timbers,  etc.,  necessary  to  roof 


Fig-.  337. 


in  2,684  feet  of  floor.  The  pitch  or  angle  which 
the  slope  of  the  roof  makes  with  the  horizon  is 
52  degrees.  The  material  employed  was  at  one 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


301 


time  believed  to  be  chestnut,  but  is  really  Eng¬ 
lish  oak.  The  appearance  of  the  two  woods  is  so 
much  alike  that  some  uncertainty  may  -well  be  • 
pardoned.  The  date  of  the  roof  is  A.  D.  1397,  so 

that  it  is  now  over  five  hundred  vears  old.  The 

.  «/ 

timber  is  in  good  preservation  and  of  large  scant¬ 
ling;  that  is  to  say,  large  sectional  area.  The 
workmanship  throughout  is  of  great  beauty  and 
accuracy,  and  no  extensive  repair,  so  far  as  can 
be  seen,  has  ever  been  found  necessary.  The 
principal  rafter  of  each  truss  is  of  considerable 
strength.  The  collar  is  placed  just  half  way  up 
the  rafter.  The  hammer  beams  receive  the  foot 
of  the  rafters  at  their  extremity,  and  each  pro¬ 
jects  rather  more  than  a  quarter  of  the  span  from 
the  wall,  and  lias  its  ends  beautifully  carved  with 
the  figure  of  an  angle  carrying  a  crown.  A  strong 
post  is  carried  up  from  the  end  of  the  hammer 
beam  to  the  point  where  the  collar  and  the  prin¬ 
cipal  rafters  join.  A  timber,  which  may  be  called 
a  wall-post,  rises  from  a  corbel  far  down  the  wall, 
and  supports  the  under  side  of  the  hammer  beam 
at  the  point  where  it  leaves  the  wall,  and  a  second 
post  vertically  above  this  supports  the  principal 
rafter.  There  is  a  strong  and  richly  molded  rib 
which  acts  as  a  bracket  or  strut,  springing  from 
the  corbel  just  referred  to,  and  framed  into  the 
hammer  beam,  near  its  free  end.  A  second  simi¬ 
lar  rib,  rising  from  the  hammer  beam,  supports 
the  middle  of  the  collar.  All  these  pieces,  except 


302 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


the  principal  rafter,  are  knit  together  by  a  mag¬ 
nificent  arched  rib  springing  from  the  corbel  from 
which  the  lowest  carved  rib  starts,  and  framed  to 
the  hammer  beam,  the  post  on  the  back  of  that 
beam,  the  collar,  and  both  the  curved  ribs.  Above 
the  collar  a  second  collar  is  introduced,  and  a  post 
connecting  the  two  is  added,  while  at  the  middle 
of  the  truss,  a  central  post,  something  like  a  short 
king-post  occurs.  Between  all  these  timbers  there 
is  a  kind  of  a  filling-in  of  mullions  or  small  posts, 
the  space  between  having  ornaments  at  the  heads. 
These,  no  doubt,  perform  quite  as  much  the  im¬ 
portant  structural  duty  of  connecting  every  mem¬ 
ber  of  the  great  framework  together,  as  they  do 
the  artistic  duty  of  filling  up  the  great  outline 
with  subordinate  features  which  give  scale  to  it, 
enable  its  vastness  to  be  appreciated,  and  bring 
out  the  variety  of  its  lines  by  their  contrast  with 
the  uniformity  of  the  filling-in. 

The  usual  longitudinal  purlins,  running  from 
truss  to  truss,  are  employed  here,  and  furnish  sup¬ 
port  to  the  roof  rafters.  The  purlins  are  them¬ 
selves  supported  lengthways  from  the  great 
trusses  by  braces.  The  middle  purlin  is  supported 
by  a  beautiful  arched  rib  springing  from  the  post 
on  the  hammer  beam.  The  upper  purlin  has  a 
curved  brace  springing  from  the  principal  rafter. 
The  lower  purlin  has  a  curved  brace  springing 
from  the  back  of  the  great  curved  rib.  Below  this 
purlin  occur  the  openings  of  the  roof  covering, 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


303 


which  correspond  with  the  great  dormer  windows, 
from  which  the  hail  receives  a  considerable  por¬ 
tion  of  its  light,  hut  which  are  said  not  to  have 
been  part  of  the  original  design. 


The  fineness  of  the  workmanship  shows  that 
every  ornamental  part  is  equally  well  wrought, 
and  is  designed  with  the  greatest  skill,  and  the 
most  honest  work  possible  was  expended  on  its 
construction. 


304 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


A  liammer  beam  queen-post  truss  is  sliown  at 
Fig.  338.  This  roof  is  quite  effective,  both  as  to 
design  and  construction  and  would  answer  admir- 


Fig.  339. 

ably  for  any  building  not  more  than  45  feet  span. 

A  cheaply  formed  roof,  and  one  well  suited  for 
country  churches,  is  shown  at  Fig.  339 ;  where  the 
finish  also  for  the  Apse  of  the  church  is  shown. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


305 


For  small  cliurclies  in  the  country,  having  a  seat¬ 
ing  capacity  of  from  150  to  400,  this  kind  of  a 
roof  and  finish  is  well  adapted.  While  it  shows 
a  hammer  beam  roof,  it  is  simply  neither  more 
nor  less  than  a  scissor  constructed  roof. 


Fig.  340. 


The  examples  given,  I  take  it,  are  quite  sufficient 
to  enable  any  smart  workman  to  design  and  con¬ 
struct  almost  anv  kind  of  an  ordinary  roof  of  the 
class  shown,  so  I  leave  the  subject  of  hammer 
beam  roofs,  and,  as  promised  in  earlier  pages,  to 
show  and  explain  some  forms  of  Mansard,  curb 
or  gambrel  roofs. 

The  roof  shown  in  Fig.  340  is  a  true  Mansard, 
and  one  of  the  best  designed  roofs  of  the  kind. 
It  is  suitable  for  a  span  of  35  or  40  feet. 


306 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


The  three  sketches,  A,  B,  C,  shown  at  341,  give 
some  idea  as  to  the  rule  governing  the  designing 
of  Mansard  roofs.  It  will  be  seen  that  in  each 
case  a  semi-circle,  drawn  from  the  middle  of  the 
base  line  touches  the  five  main  points  of  the  truss. 
There  are  cases,  however,  where  the  rule  cannot 
always  be  applied.  A  noted  authority  on  timber- 
work  objects  to  this  style  of  roof  as  being  ungrace¬ 
ful  in  form  and  causing  loss  of  room  as  compared 


with  the  original  roofs  of  high  pitch;  and  fur¬ 
ther,  on  account  of  the  difficulty  of  freeing  the 
gutters  from  snow.  It  is  also  dangerous  on  ac¬ 
count  of  its  inflammabilitv. 

ft/ 

Fig.  342  shows  a  Mansard  roof,  having  a  para¬ 
pet  wall.  This  roof  is  suitable  for  a  span  of  30 
feet,  and  owing  to  the  setback  from  the  coping  on 
the  parapet  wall,  has  a  good  appearance. 

For  a  span  of  from  16  to  20  feet,  the  roof  shown 
at  Fig.  343  would  answer  very  well  and  prove 
quite  economical,  both  as  to  material  and  labor. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


307 


A  self-supporting  curb  roof  is  shown  at  Fig. 
344,  which  is  intended  for  a  long  span  extending 
50  feet  or  more.  This  shows  how  a  flat  curb  roof 
may  be  constructed.  For  a  less  span,  a  king-post 


may  be  used  and  the  two  queen-posts  left  out. 
Braces  could  run  from  the  foot  of  the  king-post 
to  the  break  in  the  principals  at  B  and  shaped 
with  iron  as  shown,  As  roller  skating  rinks  are 


308 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


again  coming  in  use,  this  truss  might  in  some 
cases  be  used  for  covering  same.  However,  I  now 


leave  Mansard  roofs,  and  will  give  an  example  or 
two  of  roofs  suitable  for  skating  rinks  or  for 
similar  purposes. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


309 


The  roof  shown  at  Fig.  345  is  one  that  has  been 
employed  over  a  rink  having  a  floor  space  of  60  x 
150  feet,  and  dressing  rooms  and  galleries  on  the 
sides.  The  trusses  are  placed  14  feet  apart.  The 
purlins  are  2x6,  and  are  set  two  feet  apart.  The 
rafters  over  the  galleries  are  2x4  inches,  set  2 
feet  apart,  and  at  the  upper  ends  are  spiked  into 
the  lower  purlin  which  lies  at  the  foot  of  the 
trusses.  The  tie-beam  is  spliced  in  the  middle  by 
bolting  a  2  x  8  timber  on  each  side.  The  braces 


Pig.  344. 


at  the  foot  of  the  truss  are  spiked  on  both  sides. 
The  roof  is  sheeted  with  %-inch  pine  boards, 
nailed  on  to  the  purlins  parallel  with  the  rafters 
and  covered  with  No.  26  iron  roofing.  The  dimen¬ 
sions  of  the  timbers  are  marked  on  the  sketch. 

A  roof  more  pretentious  is  shown  at  Fig.  346, 
which  has  been  in  use  for  some  time.  It  is  a  verv 
economical  structure  and  not  difficult  to  construct : 
The  building  is  80  x  172  feet,  outside  measure¬ 
ments,  affording  a  skating  surface  of  64  x  154  feet. 


310 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


The  sills  are  of  solid  timber,  8x8  inches,  Norway 
pine.  The  foundation  consists  of  stone  piers  14  x 
14  inches,  24  inches  deep,  and  18  inches  in  the 
ground.  These  are  in  eight  rows,  extending  the 


Fig.  346. 


entire  length  of  the  building,  6  feet  apart.  The 
piers  under  the  arches  are  24  x  24  inches  in  size, 
and  are  36  inches  deep.  The  joists  of  the  skating 
floor  are  2  x  10  inches  in  size,  placed  16  inches 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


311 


between  centers.  They  are  14  feet  long,  and 
lapped  together  and  thoroughly  spiked.  The 
cords  running  from  arch  to  arch  on  each  side  of 
the  building  the  entire  length  to  support  the  roof 
are  of  4  x  10  timber  properly  gained  into  the 
principal  rafters.  From  each  arch  to  the  outside 
studding  a  2  x  8  inch  tie  is  spiked.  The  building 
is  covered  with  drop  siding,  from  6  inch  C  strips. 
The  roof  projects  6  inches,  and  is  finished  with  a 
plain  barge  board  and  facia.  The  skating  sur¬ 
face  is  covered  with  an  under  floor  of  common  pine 
boards,  surfaced  and  laid  diagonally.  These  are 
nailed  to  the  joists  and  are  covered  with  felt.  The 
skating  floor  is  of  dry,  matched,  clear  maple  floor¬ 
ing,  y8  inch  thick  and  2y>  inches  wide,  blind-nailed 
on  bearings  and  smooth-planed  and  sand-papered 
after  laying.  The  maple  floor  was  laid  with 
mitered  joints  at  the  corners,  and  with  a  rectangu¬ 
lar  space  14  feet  wide  in  the  center.  The  floors  in 
the  galleries  and  of  the  platforms  are  of  common 
pine  matched.  The  roof  is  hipped  back  from  the 
end  walls,  which  are  26  feet  9  inches  high  to  the 
first  arch.  The  entire  roof  is  covered  with  cement 
roofing.  The  building  has  nine  arches,  located  as 
shown  on  plans.  These  are  3 3y2  feet  high  and 
measure  in  section  10  x  15  inches.  The  arches  are 
built  of  1  x  10  inch  boards,  planed  and  jointed, 
and  fastened  together  with  lOd.  and  20d.  nails. 
The  feet  of  the  arches  are  gained  2  inches  into 


312 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


the  cross-sills.  The  opposite  cross-sills  are  con¬ 
nected  together  by  2  x  10  tie-joists. 

A  lattice  truss  may  often  be  used  over  short 
spans,  or  even  for  greater  spans  if  the  timbers 
and  lattice  strips  are  made  in  proportion.  The 
truss  shown  at  Fig.  317  will  do  nicely  for  a  27  feet 
span.  The  lattice  trusses  may  have  a  rise  of  3  feet 
and  radius  of  36  feet  and  be  placed  7  feet  apart. 
The  top  and  bottom  members  may  be  made  up  by 


two  separate  thicknesses  of  7-in.  by  l^-in.  break¬ 
ing  joint.  The  lattice  bars  may  be  about  2y2  in., 
1 in.  and  3  feet  apart,  radiating  as  shown.  The 
purlins  should  be  3  in.  by  2  in.  at  3  feet  centers, 
and  covered  with  %-in.  boarding  and  tarred  felt. 
Cross  bracing  4i/2  in.  by  %  in.  between  trusses  as 
shown.  The  following  is  the  rule  for  obtaining 
the  radius  of  roof  principals  of  the  wood  lattice 
pattern.  If  the  rise  be  made  one-tenth  of  the  span, 
the  radius  will  be  thirteen-tenths  of  the  span. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


313 


Thus,  85-ft.  span  equals  8-ft.  6-in.  rise  and  110- 
ft.  6-in.  radius,  but  this  would  be  a  large  roof  for 
such  a  system.  The  lattices  may  be  arranged  so 
that  center  lines  through  the  top  and  bottom 
apices  are  radial  to  the  external  curve,  as  shown 
in  Fig.  340,  or  the  lattices  themselves  may  be 
drawn  towards  two  points  equal  to  span  apart 
and  half  span  below  tie-beam,  as  shown  in  Fig. 
349.  The  former  has  the  better  appearance,  but  the 


Figr-  349. 


latter  has  more  crossings  where  the  lattices  can 
be  secured  to  each  other  to  help  in  stiffening  them. 
Galvanized  corrugated  iron  forms  a  good  cover¬ 
ing  for  these  roofs. 

Sometimes  this  kind  of  a  truss  is  used  in  bridge 
building,  but  since  steel  has  become  such  a  factor 
in  structural  work,  the  lattice  bridge  or  roof  is 
very  seldom  employed. 


314 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


A  oo den  spires,  turrets  and  towers  of  various 
kinds  are  still  erected  in  many  parts  of  the  coun¬ 
try,  and  a  book  of  this  kind  would  scarcely  be 
complete  if  these  framings  were  not  mentioned: 
Fig.  350  shows  the  construction  of  a  spire  85  feet 
high  above  the  tie-beam,  or  cross-timber  of  the 
roof.  This  is  framed  square  as  far  as  the  top  of 
the  second  section,  above  which  it  is  octagonal.  It 
will  be  found  most  convenient  to  frame  and  raise 
the  square  portion  first ;  then  to  frame  the  octag¬ 
onal  portion,  or  spire  proper,  before  raising  it ;  in 
the  first  place  letting  the  feet  of  the  8  hip  rafters 
of  the  spire,  each  of  which  is  48  feet  long,  rest 
upon  the  tie-beam  and  joists  of  the  main  building. 
The  top  of  the  spire  can,  in  that  situation,  be 
conveniently  finished  and  painted,  after  which  it 
may  be  raised  half  way  to  its  place,  when  the 
lower  portion  can  be  finished  as  far  down  as  the 
top  of  the  third  section.  The  spire  should  then 
be  raised  and  bolted  to  its  place,  by  bolts  at  the 
top  of  the  second  section  at  AB,  and  also  at  the 
feet  of  the  hip  rafters  at  CD.  The  third  section 
can  then  be  built  around  the  base  of  the  spire 
proper;  or  the  spire  can  be  finished,  as  such,  to 
the  top  of  the  second  sections,  dispensing  with  the 
third,  just  as  the  taste  or  ability  of  the  parties 
shall  determine. 

No.  2  presents  a  horizontal  view  of  the  top  of 
the  first  section. 


Fig.  350. 


316 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


No.  3  is  a  horizontal  view  of  the  top  of  the  sec¬ 
ond  section,  after  the  spire  is  bolted  to  its  place. 

The  lateral  braces  in  the  spire  are  halved 
together  at  their  intersection  with  each  other,  and 
beveled  and  spiked  to  the  hip  rafters  at  the  ends. 
These  braces  may  be  dispensed  with  on  a  low 
spire. 

A  conical  finish  can  be  given  to  the  spire  above 
the  sections,  by  making  the  outside  edges  of  the 
cross-timbers  circular. 

The  bevels  of  the  hip  rafters  are  obtained  in  the 
usual  manner  for  octagonal  roofs,  as  described  in 
other  pages. 

In  most  cases  the  side  of  an  octagon  is  given 
as  the  basis  of  calculation  in  finding  the  width 
and  other  dimensions ;  but  in  spires  like  this, 
where  the  lower  portion  is  square,  we  are  required 
to  find  the  side  from  a  erven  width.  The  second 
section  in  this  steeple,  within  which  the  octagonal 
spire  is  to  be  bolted,  is  supposed  to  be  12  feet 
square  outside;  and  the  posts  being  8  inches 
square,  the  width  of  the  octagon  at  the  top  of  this 
section,  as  represented  in  No.  3,  is  10  feet  8  inches, 
and  its  side  is  4  feet  5.02  inches. 

The  side  of  any  other  octagon  may  be  found 
from  this  by  proportion,  since  all  regular  octa¬ 
gons  are  similar  figures,  and  their  sides  are  to 
each  other  as  their  widths,  and  conversely  their 
widths  are  to  each  other  as  their  sides. 

Another  example  of  high  spire  is  shown  at  Fig. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


317 


351,  in  a  completed  state.  This  is  taken  from 
“Architecture  and  Building,”  published  by  Wm. 
Cumstock,  New  York,  and  is  a  good  example  of  a 
tall  slim  spire. 

This  spire  is  111  feet  6  inches  high  above  the 
plate,  and  the  latter  is  69  feet  above  the  sidewalk. 
The  total  height  from  sidewalk  to  top  of  finial  is 
190  feet.  The  tower  is  of  stone,  19  feet  square, 
with  buttresses  as  shown.  The  spire  is  a  true 
octagon  in  section,  and  each  of  the  eight  sides  is 
braced  in  the  same  way,  with  the  exception  of  the 
lower  panel,  in  which  the  bracing  is  omitted  on 
four  sides  back  of  the  dormers.  Besides  the 
bracing  shown  in  Fig.  352  the  spire  was  braced 
across  horizontally  at  each  purlin  to  prevent  dis¬ 
tortion  in  the  octagon.  At  the  top  the  eight  hips 
are  cut  against  a  ten-inch  octagon  pole  and  bolted 
to  it  in  pairs.  This  pole  is  32  feet  long  and  is  se¬ 
cured  at  the  bottom  by  bolting  to  4  x  6  cross¬ 
pieces,  which  are  securely  spiked  to  the  hips.  In 
the  center  of  this  pole  is  a  l^-inch  iron  rod, 
which  forms  the  center  of  the  wrought  iron  finial. 

The  lower  end  of  each  hip  is  secured  to  the 
masonry  by  ITA-inch  bolts,  6  feet  long.  The  plate 
extends  the  full  length  of  each  side  of  the  tower 
and  is  bolted  together  and  to  the  walls  at  the 
corners.  A  short  piece  of  6  x  6  timber  is  placed 
on  top  of  the  plate,  across  the  corners,  to  receive 
the  rafters  on  the  corner  sides  of  the  octagon. 
The  braces  and  purlins  are  set  in  4  inches  from 


318 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


* 


^  <.%=? 


C  -> 


- -v  -i 


P| 


n 


■ 


fe 


Fig.  351 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


319 


the  outer  face  of  the  hips  to  allow  for  placing  2  x 
4  jack  rafters  outside  of  them.  These  rafters  are 
not  shown  in  the  figure ;  they  were  placed  up  and 
down,  16  inches  on  centers,  and  spiked  to  the  pur¬ 
lins  and  braces. 

As  may  be  seen  from  Fig.  351,  the  top  of  the 
tower  is  rather  light  for  supporting  such  a  high 
framework,  and  is  moreover  weakened  by  large 
openings  in  each  side.  It  was,  therefore,  deter¬ 
mined  to  transfer  the  thrust  due  to  the  wind  pres¬ 
sure  on  the  spire  to  the  corner  of  the  tower  at  a 
point  just  below  the  sill  of  the  large  openings. 
The  manner  in  which  this  was  done  is  shown  by 
Fig.  353,  which  is  a  diagonal  section  through  top 
of  tower.  The  purlins  C,  C,  Fig.  351,  were  made 
6  x  10  inches,  set  on  edge  and  securely  bolted  to 
the  hips.  From  the  center  of  these  purlins  on 
each  of  the  four  corner  sides  6  x  10-inch  posts 
were  carried  down  into  the  tower,  as  shown  in 
Fig.  353.  These  posts  were  secured  at  the  bottom 
to  10  x  10-inch  timbers,  which  were  placed  across 
the  tower  diagonally  and  solidly  built  into  the 
corners.  The  bracing  shown  was  used  merely  to 
prevent  the  posts  from  bucking.  Only  one  pair  of 
posts  is  shown  in  the  figure.  The  effect  of  these 
posts  is  to  transmit  the  entire  wind  pressure  on 
the  leeward  side  of  the  tower  from  the  purlins  C, 
C  to  the  corners  of  the  tower  at  the  bottom  of  the 
posts.  The  tension  on  the  windward  side  is  re¬ 
sisted  by  the  hip  rafters  and  the  bolts  by  which 


320 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


Fig.  352. 


Fig.  353. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


321 


Fig.  354. 


Platt  of  base/  of Spire/,  ajxci  part  of  Hoof 


322 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


Flevalvon  of  Framing  of  Tower  of  Vie  Town ■  hall . 

Milford, .  Mass: 


Fig.  35SL 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


323 


they  are  anchored  to  the  wall.  This  spire  has 
stood  for  five  years,  and  no  cracks  have  as  yet  ap¬ 
peared  in  the  tower,  although  the  lf,4-inch  rod  in 
the  wrought  iron  finial  was  slightly  bent  during  a 
severe  gale. 

The  elevation  and  plans  of  the  framework  of  a 
French  spire  are  shown  at  Fig.  354,  the  whole  is 
so  plain  that  a  further  description  of  it  is  unneces¬ 
sary.  This  is  a  fine  specimen  of  French  timber 
work  and  is  worthy  of  study. 

The  tower  shown  at  Fig.  355  is  an  old  example 
of  New  England  timber  work — the  plans  are 
shown  at  No.  2  and  No.  3.  The  illustration  shows 
clearly  enough  the  construction  as  to  render  de¬ 
scription  unnecessary. 

Fig.  356  shows  the  elevation  of  a  round  tower, 
and  Fig.  357  the  plan  and  framework  of  same. 
As  this  example  is  somewhat  different  to  the  fore¬ 
going  ones,  some  explanations  are  required  to 
make  the  drawings  clear  and  understandable. 

Referring  to  Fig.  357,  let  it  be  supposed  that  1, 
2,  3,  4,  etc.,  represent  the  plan  of  the  tower  and 
M  P  its  rise.  Strike  the  plan  full  size  or  to  a 
scale  as  may  be  most  convenient. 

For  laying  out  the  plan  or  line  of  the  plate, 
draw  lines  for  the  rafters,  as  15,  26,  37  and  48. 
Directly  above  the  plan  draw  the  elevation,  be¬ 
ginning  with  a  straight  line,  as  Iv  0,  to  represent 
the  plate,  and  make  it  the  same  length  as  37  of 
the  plan.  Raise  the  center  line  M  P  the  height  of 


324 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


Fig.  356. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


Fig.  357, 


5 


326 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


the  tower  and  join  0  P  and  K  P,  which  will  be 
the  lengths  for  all  the  rafters.  To  obtain  the 
horizontal  pieces  A,  B,  C,  D,  etc.,  to  which  the 
sheeting  is  nailed  in  the  manner  represented  in 
Figs.  1  and  2,  proceed  as  follows :  Divide  the 
height  into  as  many  parts  as  desired — in  this  case 
six,  which  requires  five  horizontal  pieces  between 
each  pair  of  rafters.  The  exact  length  and  cut 
will  he  given  by  striking  out  the  sweeps  shown 
on  the  plan.  A  better  idea  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  roof  Is  constructed  will  be  gained  from 
inspection  of  Fig.  356,  which  shows  each  stud, 
plate,  rafter  and  sweep  in  proper  position,  also 
the  covering  boards  nailed  on  half  way  round. 
To  obtain  the  exact  shape,  length  and  bevel  for 
the  covering  boards  the  following  method  is  em¬ 
ployed  :  Take  P  of  Fig.  357  as  a  center,  with  K 
as  a  radius,  and  describe  the  arc  K  E.  The  dis¬ 
tance  from  Iv  to  R  represents  one-lialf  of  the  cir¬ 
cle  or  plan  of  the  tower.  The  distance  from  Iv  to 
R  may  be  divided  into  as  many  parts  as  desired. . 
In  this  case  it  is  divided  into  fifteen  parts,  thus 
giving  15  tapering  boards,  which  cover  one-half 
the  tower.  Lines  drawn  from  P  to  the  arc  K  R 
are  the  inside  lines  of  the  joints.  To  obtain  the 
bevel  of  the  jointed  edges  of  the  boards  set  a 
bevel  at  V,  as  shown  in  Fig.  356.  In  the  plan 
shown  the  rafters  are  cut  so  as  to  fit  against  a 
block,  X,  shaped  to  suit  the  plan  of  the  roof.  This 
manner  of  butting  the  rafters  against  the  block  X 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


Fig.  358. 


saves  the  time  and  labor  of  cutting  the  side  bevels 
on  the  rafters  which  would  be  necessarv  if  the 
block  was  not  employed. 

A  turret  roof  is  shown  at  Fig.  358,  and  explana- 


328 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


tions  are  given  on  the  drawing  in  connection  with 
the  framing  and  construction  of  the  whole  work, 
all  of  which  should  be  readily  understood  by  the 
workman. 


Fig.  359. 


I  show  two  examples  of  towers  in  Figs.  359  and 
360,  and  as  the  timbers  shown  are  figured  it  would 
be  waste  of  space  to  lengthen  our  description. 

With  these  examples  I  conclude  on  spires,  tow¬ 
ers  and  turrets,  and  will  now  endeavor  to  show 
and  describe  some  examples  of  timber  barns,  and 
work  of  a  similar  kind.  •  The  illustrations  shown 
are  sufficiently  clear  to  render  lengthy  description 
unnecessary.  The  sketch  shown  at  Fig.  361  is  in¬ 
tended  to  represent  the  end  of  a  barn  about  55  feet 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


329 


n 

1 

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S-j 

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4  H 
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Fig.  360. 


330 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


wide.  The  open  space  under  the  main  floor  may 
be  left  as  a  shelter  for  cattle,  or  it  mav  he  built 
in  an  excavation  in  a  bank,  forming  what  is  known 
as  a  “bank  barn.” 


1 


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Fig.  362  shows  another  sketch  of  barn  which  is 
slightly  different  from  the  previous  one.  This 
may  be  used  as  a  bank  barn  or  otherwise. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


331 


The  sketch  shown  in  Fig.  363  will  answer  for  a 
center  bent  in  either  of  the  previous  examples,  as 
it  forms  a  good  truss  in  assisting  the  swing  beam 
in  carrying  the  upper  structure. 


Fig.  364  shows  the  side  of  a  barn  65  feet  long. 
This  framing  will  suit  any  length  of  barn,  and 


332 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


may  be  covered  by  any  kind  of  a  framed  roof  of 
the  usual  style.  The  openings  may  be  filled  in 
with  studs  and  braces,  or  may  be  covered  in  with 
heavy  rolling  doors. 


The  sketches  shown  at  Figs.  365  and  366  are 
intended  to  apply  to  roofs  having  a  span  of  not 
more  than  40  feet.  The  roof  shown  at  Fig.  365  is 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING  333 


nicely  adapted  for  using  a  “hay  fork,”  as  the 
timber  in  the  ridge  will  accommodate  the  fork 
and  its  appliances. 

I  show  a  number  of  designs  for  framing  barns 
with  gambrel  roofs  at  Figs.  367,  368,  369,  370,  371 


334 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


and  372.  These  will,  I  think,  be  ample  to  meet 
almost  any  requirement  in  this  class  of  roofs. 
Figs.  369  and  370  appear  to  be  favorites  with 
framers  in  some  parts  of  the  west  where  there  are 
barns  that  have  been  built  on  these  lines  over 
thirty  years  ago,  and  which  are  still  doing  good 
service  after  “braving  the  battle  and  the  breezes 
and  cyclones”  so  long,  and  they  still  give  promise 
of  doing  business  at  the  old  stands  for  many  years 
yet  to  come. 


Fig.  365. 


Temporary  seats,  or  “grand  stands,”  for  fairs, 
exhibitions,  outside  conventions  or  similar  occa¬ 
sions,  are  often  called  for,  and  the  man  who  knows 
how  best  and  most  economically  to  build  same  will 
be  the  man  to  secure  the  contract  for  such  work. 

While  I  do  not  intend  to  go  deeply  into  this 
phase  of  timber  framing,  I  deem  it  due  to  my 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


335 


Fig-.  367. 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


Fig.  368. 


Fig.  369. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


337 


readers  that  I  should  submit  something  to  them 
that  may  be  of  use  should  they  ever  be  called  upon 
to  erect  structures  of  this  hind. 


To  build  a  temporary  lot  of  seats  where  the 
space  is  limited  between  walls,  the  proposition  is 
rather  a  simple  one,  as  the  framing  may  easily  be 


338 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


erected  and  slightly  attached  to  the  walls,  or,  if 
the  walls  permit  of  it,  timbers  may  be  laid  so  that 
their  ends  may  rest  in  the  walls,  and  they  may  be 


supported  through  the  center  by  a  triangular 
framework,  such  as  shown  at  Fig.  373,  and  the 
seating  may  be  built  on  as  shown  in  Fig.  374. 


This  shows  the  principles  on  which  all  stands  of 
this  kind  are  built.  Sometimes  the  timber  and 
planking  are  all  spiked  or  nailed  together.  Tins 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


339 


is  objectionable  as  in  that  case  all  the  bearing 
strength  of  the  frame  must  be  on  the  nails  or 
spikes,  something  that  should  not  be.  A  much 


better  way  would  be  to  put  the  frame  together 
with  large  screws  or  bolts,  then  the  framework 
can  be  taken  down  without  much  injury  to  the 


material.  If  the  seats  are  to  have  benches  on 
them,  and  to  be  raised  above  the  ground  at  the 
lower  end  the  steps  must  be  made  wider  to  suit 


340 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


these  conditions,  as  shown  at  Fig.  375.  If  chairs 
are  to  be  used  on  the  platform  the  steps  should 
not  be  less  than  2  feet  4  inches  wide,  each  hav¬ 
ing  the  proper  rise.  The  diagram  shows  how 
such  steps  can  be  formed  with  a  minimum  of  both 
materials  and  labor. 

Another  manner  of  constructing  these  galleries 
is  shown  in  Fig.  376.  In  this  case  the  upper  plat¬ 
form  is  left  about  5  feet  4  inches  wide,  which 


leaves  room  enough  for  seating  on  the  step  and 
for  people  to  pass  to  and  fro  between  the  wall 
and  the  rear  of  the  people  on  the  seat.  The  dia¬ 
gram  shown  at  Fig.  377  has  a  much  steeper  pitch, 
and  is  built  over  a  series  of  trusses.  This  admits 
of  the  lower  portion  of  the  truss  being  arched, 
which  gives  more  headroom  to  the  floor  below. 
The  treads  or  steps  in  this  series  are  much  nar¬ 
rower  than  those  shown  in  previous  examples. 

Fig.  378  shows  a  portion  of  a  gallery  having  an 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


341 


Fig.  377. 


Fig.  378, 


342 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


arched  ceiling  and  an  ornamented  panel  in  the 
angle  which  relieves  the  work  and  makes  a  good 
finish.  Another  scheme  is  shown  in  Fig.  379. 

This  is  figured  on  the  plan  so  there  is  no  need 
of  further  explanation. 

Two  other  examples  are  shown  at  Fig.  380.  The 
principal  B  is  notched  on  the  wall-plate  G,  and 
also  on  the  beam  E ;  the  tie  is  secured  on  the  wall- 
plate  H  and  bolted  to  the  principal.  F  is  a  beam 


serving  the  office  of  a  purlin  to  carry  the  gallery 
joists;  D  is  a  strut;  bh  are  the  floods  of  the  pews 
or  seats ;  and  ccc  the  partitions ;  C  is  a  hammer- 
piece  or  bracket  resting  on  the  beam  E  and  bolted 
to  the  principal  B ;  its  outer  extremity  carries  the 
piece  I,  which  supports  the  gallery  front. 

No.  2,  Fig.  380,  is  another  example  of  the 
trussed  principal  A  0  C  E,  resting  on  the  wall- 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


343 


plate  H,  and  front  beam  E  supports  the  beam  K, 
which  carries  the  gallery  joists  B;  a  a  and  b  b 
are  the  floors  and  partitions  of  the  seats. 


Fig.  3S0. 


In  building  stands  of  this  kind,  or  designing 
same,  nothing  should  be  let  go  as  “good  enough” 
if  there  be  anything  at  hand  better.  All  timbers 
should  be  of  the  very  best  and  the  workmanship 
beyond  suspicion.  In  no  other  structure  is  lion- 


344 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


est  work  and  faithful  adherence  to  good  and 
strong  construction  more  needful  than  in  the 
building  of  temporary  structures  of  this  kind. 


What  a  terrible  thing  it  would  be  if,  because  of 
your  carelessness,  incompetency,  or  defect  in  ma¬ 
terials  used  in  the  stand  or  gallery,  the  whole 


Fig.  382. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


345 


structure  loaded  with  young  children  and  lady 
teachers,  was  to  give  way  and  throw  every  one 
to  the  ground  or  next  floor,  causing,  perhaps,  the 
loss  of  many  young  lives  and  many  bone  fractures. 
See  that  the  timber  is  sound,  that  every  joint  fits 
snug  and  tight.  Be  sure  of  your  foundation ;  have 
the  building  well  braced,  and  your  sleep  will  not 
be  disturbed  by  fear  of  the  tumbling  down  of 
your  framed  work. 

The  framing  of  bridges  for  short  and  medium 
spans,  particularly  in  country,  villages  and  towns, 
will  generally  fall  to  the  lot  of  the  expert  framer. 
The  designing  of  these  .bridges  will  also  be  exe¬ 
cuted  by  the  carpenter  and  framer;  and  knowing 
this,  I  would  not  be  doing  my  duty  to  the  country 
carpenter  if  I  did  not  submit  a  number  of  dia¬ 
grams  herewith  for  his  guidance. 

The  design  for  a  simple  cheaply  made  bridge, 
shown  at  Fig.  381,  is  quite  suitable  for  a  road 
bridge  having  a  span  of  about  30  ft.  The  timbers 
shown  under  the  main  chord  tend  to  strengthen  the 
whole  work.  The  long  timbers  running  across  the 
creek  will  require  to  be  as  long  as  the  chords  of  the 
truss;  they  will  rest  on  the  string  pieces,  and 
should  be  bolted  down  to  them.  They  should  be 
placed  not  more  than  6  feet  from  center  to  center. 
The  deck  of  the  bridge  should  be  made  of  good 
sound  3  inch  plank.  The  iron  rods  used  in  truss 
should  be  not  less  than  seven-eighths  of  an  inch  in 
diameter. 


CAST  CAP. 


346 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


SPAN  50  FEET. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


347 


Another  truss  bridge  is  shown  at  Fig.  382,  which 
is  a  trifle  easier  to  build  than  the  one  just  shown. 
This  is  for  from  18  to  22  feet  spah.  Sizes  of  timber 
are  figured  out  on  the  diagram. 

The  design  shown  at  Fig.  383  is  a  most  excellent 
one  for  a  span  of  about  20  feet.  This  bridge  will 
carry  an  enormous  load  if  skillfully  built.  The 
timbers  are  all  marked  with  figures,  giving  sizes  of 
stuff  required.  This  bridge,  with  plenty  of  strin¬ 
gers  in  it,  would  carry  a  railroad  train.  For  foot 
bridges,  either  of  the  designs  shown  would  answer 
very  well,  with  about  half  the  timbers  in  them  as 
described  on  the  diagram. 

A  very  strong  truss  is  shown  at  Fig.  384,  that  is 
suitable  for  a  span  of  50  feet,  or  even  a  little  more. 
A  part  of  the  deck  floor  is  shown  at  B  B,  and  the 
cross  timbers  appear  at  A,  A,  A.  This  makes  a 
good  substantial  bridge  for  a  roadway  and  is  very 
popular  in  many  country  places. 

The  design  shown  at  Fig.  385  is  made  for  a  span 
of  40  feet.  This  is  also  a  good  design  for  a  gen¬ 
eral  roadway. 

Another  good  truss  is  shown  in  Fig.  386  and  one 
which  is  intended  for  a  span  of  75  feet.  The  bridge 
is  12  feet  wide  between  trusses.  The  stringers 
rest  on  the  cross-ties  or  beams  A.  The  floor  con¬ 
sists  of  2-inch  plank  nailed  on  the  stringers.  The 
braces  butt  against  a  block  which  is  bolted  to  the 
chord  with  two  bolts  34-inch  in  diameter.  The  heel 
of  the  brace  is  also  fastened  to  the  chord  with  two 


348 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


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HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


349 


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350 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


bolts  of  the  same  size.  At  the  point  B  there  are 
two  pieces  6x12  inches,  notched  and  bolted  with 


two  bolts  at  the  top  and  bottom.  There  is  only 
a  common  key  splice  in  the  center  of  the  chord. 
I  do  not  think  this  to  be  a  very  strong  bridge  for 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


351 


this  span,  but  I  would  suggest  that  in  making  use 
of  it,  it  should  be  limited  to  a  span  of  not  more 
than  65  feet. 

The  trussed  bridge  shown  at  Fig.  38614,  is 
heavy  enough  for  a  railway  bridge,  though  it  is 
not  intended  for  that  purpose,  having  been  de¬ 
signed  for  a  roadway  where  much  heavy  traffic 
passes  over  it.  The  illustrations,  Figs.  387  and 
388,  clearly  show  the  construction  and  sizes  of  the 
different  parts.  Where  strength  and  stability  are 
desired  I  would  not  recommend  that  the  parts  he 
made  lighter  than  indicated.  In  addition  to  the 
elevation  of  the  truss,  a  plan  is  shown  of  the  road¬ 
way,  including  the  cross-braces,  floor  beams  and 
planking.  The  cross-braces  are  3x12,  the  floor 
beams  6x12,  and  the  planking  2x12,  laid  diagon¬ 
ally.  Other  necessary  particulars  are  furnished  by 
the  drawings,  as  Fig.  338  shows  a  portion  of  the 
deck  or  platform. 

Ths  truss  shown  at  Fig.  388  is  for  a  span  of 
about  72  feet.  The  illustration  showing  the  con¬ 
struction  requires  no  explanation  other  than  to 
say  that  the  rods  and  plates  should  be  provided 
with  cast-iron  washers  of  such  shape  that  all  the 
nuts  will  fit  square  with  the  bolts.  The  washers 
at  the  angles  of  the  main  braces  and  upper  curves 
are  made  to  take  both  rods  and  to  extend  over  the 
joint  sufficiently  to  hold  the  brace.  The  bridge 
shown  is  72  feet  span,  or  75  feet  extreme  length. 
It  has  a  roadway  14  feet  wide.  This,  on  a  much- 


X'U 


352 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


353 


traveled  highway  would  be  better  16  feet  wide. 
The  bridge  should  be  constructed  with  about  6- 
inch  spring.  If  oak  timber  is  used  in  the  construc¬ 
tion  of  the  bridge,  the  dimensions  of  the  pieces 
may  be  somewhat  reduced  from  what  is  shown  on 
the  drawing. 

The  bridge  shown  at  Fig.  389,  is  a  double  strut 
bridge,  and  is  a  very  strong  one;  would  answer 
for  a  roadway  where  heavy  traffic  crossed.  The 
two  struts,  CC,  on  each  side  of  the  center  show 
how  it  is  braced,  as  also  do  the  struts  DD,  which 
add  much  to  the  stiffness  of  the  work.  A  shows 
the  stringer,  while  B  shows  the  timber  for  abutting 
the  long  struts  against. 

Another  bridge  of  nearly  the  same  span  is  shown 
at  Fig.  390.  This  is  a  simple  example  with  one 
strut  on  each  side  of  the  center  of  each  beam ;  A  is 
the  chord  or  beam,  B  the  strut,  and  C  the  straining- 
piece  bolted  to  the  beam.  The  rail  above  the  beam 
is  for  protection  only,  and  is  not  intended  to  bear 
any  part  of  the  load,  although,  if  properly  framed, 
it  will  be  of  service  in  this  respect. 

When  the  spans  are  too  great  to  be  bridged  in 
this  simple  manner,  some  method  of  trussing  must 
be  adopted.  With  scarcely  an  exception,  the  ex¬ 
amples  of  trussed  bridges  may  be  resolved  into  the 
following  groups  (391)  : 

1.  Trusses  below  the  roadway,  and  exerting 
a  lateral  thrust  on  the  abutments. 


354 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


2.  Trusses  above  the  roadway,  and  exerting 
only  vertical  pressure  on  the  supports. 


3.  Trusses  below  the  roadway,  composed  of 
timber  arches  with  ties  and  braces,  but  dependent 
on  the  abutments  for  resistance  to  lateral  thrust. 


Fig.  391. 


I 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING  355 


4.  Trusses  below  or  above  the  roadway,  com¬ 
posed  of  timber  arches  with  ties  and  braces,  and 
exerting  only  vertical  pressure  on  the  supports. 

5.  Lattice  trusses  above  the  roadway. 

I  show  a  bridge  at  Fig.  392,  having  a  span  of 
over  100  feet,  that  is  not,  properly  speaking,  a 
truss  bridge,  and  which  is  not  very  difficult  of 
construction.  This  bridge  was  built  more  than 
fifty  years  ago  by  the  celebrated  Thomas  Telford, 
C.  E.,  and  it  is  still  doing  good  service;  and  may 
continue  to  do  so  for  many  years  yet,  if  it  gets 
good  care. 

I  show  at  Fig.  393  a  100-feet  span  trussed  bridge 
constructed  on  the  lines  of  the  Howe  Truss.  I  also 
give  some  data  for  figuring  on  the  strength  of  this 
bridge  and  the  loads  it  will  carry.  The  bridge  is, 
of  course,  a  compound  structure  of  steel  rods  and 
timber  beams,  which  will  probably  be  best.  The 
dead  load  may  be  taken  for  trial  at  7  cwt.  per  foot 
run,  and  the  live  load  will  be,  say  7  cwt.  per  foot 


run,  making  a  total  load  of 


100  (7+7) 
20 


70  tons,  or 


35  tons  on  each  truss.  Assume  the  elevation  to  be 
as  shown  in  No.  1,  then  the  frame  diagram  will  be 
as  shown  in  No.  2,  and  the  stress  diagram  as  shown 
in  No.  3.  It  will  be  necessary  also  to  ascertain  the 
stresses  when  the  first  three  bays  only  are  loaded, 
as  this  puts  the  fourth  bay  under  a  diagonal  com-, 
pressive  stress  when  there  is  no  compression  mem- 


356 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


C<1 

OS 

CO 

bib 

•fH 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


357 


ber  in  the  required  direction,  which  is  met  by  the 
compression  member  19-20  undergoing  2.2  tons 
tension.  The  frame  diagram  for  this  will  be  as 
shown  in  No.  4,  and  the  stress  diagram  as  shown 


in  No.  5.  The  stresses  may  be  measured  off  the 
diagrams,  and  the  bridge  will  then  want  careful 
designing  to  suit  the  material  employed. 

In  the  illustration  shown  in  Fig.  394  is  repre¬ 
sented  an  ordinary  lattice  bridge  which  may  have 
any  ordinary  span  from  50  to  125  feet.  No.  8  is 


358 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


Fig.  395. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


359 


the  elevation  of  the  common  lattice  bridge;  No.  9, 
a  section  of  the  same  when  the  roadway  is  above 
the  latticed  sides ;  and  No.  10,  a  section  when  the 
roadway  is  supported  on  the  under  side  of  the 
lattice.  No.  11,  plan  of  one  of  the  latticed  sides. 

Although  when  first  introduced  the  lattice  con¬ 
struction  at  once  obtained  great  favor  from  its 
simplicity,  economy,  and  elegant  lightness  of  ap¬ 
pearance,  yet  experience  has  shown  that  it  is  only 
adapted  for  small  spans  and  light  loads,  unless 
fortified  by  arches  or  arch  braces.  When  well  con¬ 
structed,  however,  it  is  useful  for  ordinary  road 
bridges  where  the  transport  is  not  heavy. 

A  lattice-truss  is  composed  of  thin  plank,  and  its 
construction  is  in  every  respect  such  as  to  render 
this  illustration  appropriate.  Torsion  is  the  direct 
effect  of  the  action  of  any  weight,  however  small, 
upon  the  single  lattice. 

Fig.  395  exhibits  an  elevation  and  details  for 
an  improved  “Steele”  lattice  and  trussed  bridge, 
which  is  intended  for  long  spans.  The  example 
shown  was  built  over  a  span  of  more  than  200 
feet.  The  arch  shown  in  the  work  adds  to  the  sta¬ 
bility  of  the  work  very  materially. 

The  details  shown  are  self-evident  and  hardly 
require  explanation. 

In  building  a  Howe  truss,  it  is  quite  essential 
that  the  chords  be  arched  or  cambered.  There  are 
several  ways  of  getting  this  camber,  but  the  one 
recommended  by  Prof.  De  Yolson  Wood  of  Ste- 


360 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


vens’  Institute,  Hoboken,  N.  J.,  is  perhaps,  about 
the  best.  He  sa}Ts :  ‘  ‘  Camber  may  be  accom¬ 

plished  in  various  ways.  Having  determined  the 
length  of  the  main  braces  for  straight  chords,  if 
their  length  be  slightly  increased,  beginning  with 
nothing  in  the  center  and  increasing  gradually  to¬ 
wards  the  ends,  any  desired  camber  may  be  se¬ 
cured.  This  will  give  an  arch  form.”  The  result, 
in  an  exaggerated  form,  is  shown  in  Fig.  396.  The 
bolts  shown  are  all  supposed  to  radiate  to  the  cen¬ 
ter  of  the  arch. 


Diagram  in  Which  the  Panels  at  A  is  Shcrtest,  and  at  E  Longest 
The  Rolts  Radiate  to  the  Center  of  the  Arch. 

Fig.  396. 


The  object  of  cambering  a  truss  is  to  allow  for 
any  settlement  which  may  occur  after  completion, 
and  also  to  prevent  the  truss  from  deflecting  below 
a  horizontal  line  when  taxed  to  its  maximum  ca¬ 
pacity.  Some  engineers  allow  1-incli  camber  for  a 
span  of  50  feet;  2  inches  for  100  feet,  etc.,  while 
some,  depending  on  the  accuracy  of  their  work, 
allow  only  one-half  this  amount.  By  cambering 
the  horizontal  timbers  it  is  manifest  that  they  must 
be  made  longer  than  the  straight  line  which  joins 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


361 


their  ends.  The  increase  in  length  of  the  lower 
chords  due  to  cambering  would  be  so  trifling  that 
in  ordinary  practice  it  could  be  entirely  disre¬ 
garded.  Not  so,  however,  with  the  upper  chord; 
the  increase  in  length  of  this  member  would  be 
quite  an  appreciable  quantity,  because  the  top 
chord  is  cambered  to  a  curve  which  is  concentric 
to  the  curve  of  the  lower  one. 

Trautwine  and  other  authorities  give  a  rule  for 
determining  this  increase  when  the  depth,  the  cam¬ 
ber,  and  the  span  are  given,  providing,  however, 
that  the  camber  does  not  exceed  one-fiftieth  of  the 
span, 

Increase _ depth  X  camber  X  8 

span 

using  either  feet  or  inches  in  the  calculations.  By 
cambering  the  truss  the  distance  between  the  sus¬ 
pension  rods  on  the  upper  chords  will  necessarily 
be  greater  than  the  distance  between  the  rods  on 
the  lower  chords.  The  panels  are  not  strictly 
parallelograms,  the  rods  converging  somewhat. 
By  dividing  the  total  increase  in  length  of  the  up¬ 
per  chord  by  the  number  of  panels  in  the  truss  wTe 
obtain  the  increase  per  panel.  This,  of  course,  will 
effect  the  length  of  the  braces,  and  great  care 
should  be  taken  to  cut  these  to  the  proper  length. 
Trautwine  also  gives  a  method  for  finding  the 
length  of  the  braces  in  cambered  trusses,  but  while 
the  method  shown  is  practically  correct,  in  so  far 


362 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


as  lines  are  concerned,  yet  it  could  not  be  applied 
very  well  in  a  timber  truss,  at  least,  not  so  well  as 
the  method  shown  previously. 

It  must  be  remembered,  that  in  calculating 
strains  in  trusses,  skeleton  diagrams  are  used,  and 
the  lines  composing  these  diagrams  are  generally 
taken  or  drawn  through  the  axes  of  the  various 
members.  These  lines  usually  meet  at  a  common 
point  of  intersection  as  will  be  seen  from  the 
dotted  lines  in  Fig.  397.  But  in  practice  these  lines 


do  not  always  thus  meet.  The  method  shown  by 
Trautwine  is  that  of  finding  the  length  of  the  liy- 
pothenuse  AC  of  the  right  angled  triangle  ABC ; 
and  even  were  these  axial  lines  to  meet  at  a  com¬ 
mon  point  of  intersection  the  rule  would  not  apply 
on  account  of  the  angle  blocks  taking  up  part  of 
the  distance.  The  best  way  to  get  the  length  would 
be  to  lay  out  one  panel  full  size. 

I  show,  at  Fig.  398,  a  diagram  of  a  Howe  truss 
complete.  This  will  give  an  idea  of  the  way  in 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


363 


which  these  trusses  are  constructed.  A  theoretical 
description  of  these  styles  of  truss  would  scarcely 
be  in  place  in  this  treatise,  because  of  the  fact  that 
the  carpenter  who  does  the  framing  has  but  little 
to  do  with  the  theory,  and  because  of  the  other  fact 
that  there  are  a  number  of  excellent  treatises  in 
the  market. 

Another  branch  of  timber  framing  is  that  of 
‘  ‘  shoring  and  needling,  ’  ’  which  may  be  analyzed 
as  follows : 


A  system  of  raking  shores,  Fig.  399,  consists  of 
from  one  to  four  inclined  timbers  ranged  vertically 
over  each  other,  their  lower  ends  springing  from 
a  stout  sole-piece  bedded  in  the  ground,  and  their 
upper  ends  abutting  partly  against  a  vertical  plank 
secured  to  the  face  of  the  wall  and  partly  against 
the  “needles” — horizontal  projections  that  pene¬ 
trate  the  wall-plate  and  the  wall  for  a  short  dis- 

% 

tance. 

The  needles  are  generally  cut  out  of  3-inch  by 
4!/2-inch  stuff,  the  entering  end  reduced  to  3-inch 


364 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


Fig.  399 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


365 


by  3-inch  for  convenience  in  entering  an  aperture 
formed  by  removing  a  header  from  the  wall.  The 
shouldered  side  is  placed  upwards,  and  cleats  are 
fixed  above  them  into  the  wall-plate  to  strengthen 
their  resistance  to  the  sliding  tendency  of  the 


shore.  They  are  preferably  sunk  into  the  plate  at 
the  top  end  as  indicated  by  the  dotted  lines  in  Fig. 
400. 

The  head  of  the  raker  should  be  notched  slightly 
over  the  needle,  as  shown  in  the  detail  sketch,  Fig. 
400,  to  prevent  its  being  knocked  aside,  or  moving 


366 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


I 


out  of  position  in  the  event  of  the  wall  settling 
back. 

The  top  shore  in  a  system  is  frequently  made 
in  two  lengths  for  convenience  of  handling,  and  the 
upper  one  is  known  as  the  “rider,”  the  supporting 
shore  being  termed  the  “back  shore.” 

The  rider  is  usually  set  up  to  its  bearing  with  a 
pair  of  folding  wedges  introduced  between  the 
ends  of  the  two  shores.  (See  Fig.  399.) 


Fig.  401. 


Braces  are  nailed  on  the  sides  of  the  rakers  and 
edges  of  wall-plate  to  stiffen  the  former. 

The  sole-piece  is  bedded  slightly  out  of  square 
with  the  rakers,  so  that  the  latter  may  tighten  as 
they  are  driven  up. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


367 


The  shores  should  be  secured  to  the  sole-piece 
with  timber  dogs ;  and,  when  in  roadways  or  other 
public  places,  it  is  wise  precaution  to  fix  several 
turns  of  hoop-iron  around  their  lower  ends,  fixing 
these  with  wrought  nails. 

A  system  of  flying  shores,  see  Figs.  401  and  402, 
consists  of  one  or  more  horizontal  timbers,  called 


Fig.  402. 


“dog  shores,”  wedged  tightly  between  two  wall- 
plates,  secured  to  the  'surfaces  of  adjacent  walls. 
The  middle  of  the  shore  is  supported  by  braces 
springing  from  needles  fixed  to  the  lower  ends  of 
the  plates,  and  are  usually  counteracted  by  corre¬ 
sponding  inclined  braces  raking  from  the  upper 
ends  of  the  plates. 


368 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


An  angle  of  45  degrees  is  the  best  for  these 
braces,  and  abutments  for  their  ends  are  supplied 
by  straining  or  “crown”  pieces  secured  to  the 
beam. 

Wedges  are  inserted  between  the  straining 
pieces  and  the  brace  to  bring  all  up  tight. 

When  one  shore  only  is  used,  the  best  general 
position  to  fix  it  is  about  three-quarters  the  height 
of  the  wall,  but  much  depends  upon  the  state  of  the 
walls,  and  the  nature  or  position  of  abutments 
behind  them. 

Where  opportunity  offers,  a  complete  system  of 
horizontal  shores  framed  and  braced  to  each  other, 
as  shown  in  Fig.  402,  is  a  much  safer  way  to  pre¬ 
vent  any  movement  of  walls  than  is  a  series  of 
isolated  shores,  which,  being  erected  by  different 
gangs  of  men,  and  necessarily  under  a  more 
divided  supervision  by  the  foreman,  are  likely  to 
display  considerable  differences  in  their  thrust  or 
resistance  to  the  walls. 

Approximate  rules  and  scantlings  for  raking 
shores : 

Walls  15  ft.  to  30  ft.  high,  2  shores  each  system. 

Walls  30  ft.  to  40  ft.  high,  3  shores  each  system. 

Walls  40  ft.  and  higher,  4  shores  each  system. 

The  angle  of  the  shores  60  degrees  to  75  degrees 
— not  more  than  than  15  ft.  apart. 

Walls  15  ft.  to  20  ft.  high,  4  in.  x  4  in.  or  5  in.  x 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


369 


Walls  20  ft.  to  30  ft.  high,  9  in.  x  4 y2  in.  or  6  in. 
x  6  in. 

Walls  30  ft.  to  35  ft.  high,  7  in.  x  7  in. 

Walls  35  ft.  to  40  ft.  high,  6  in.  x  12  in.  or  8  in. 
x  8  in. 

Walls  40  ft.  to  50  ft.  high,  9  in.  x  9  in.,  50  ft.  and 
upwards,  12  in.  x  9  in. 

Horizontal  shoring:  Spans  not  exceeding  15 
ft. — principal  strut  6  in.  x  4  in.  and  raking  struts 
4  in.  x  4  in. 

Spans  from  15  ft.  to  33  ft. — principal  strut  6  in. 
x  6  in.  to  9  in.  x  9  in. ;  raking  struts  from  6  in.  x 
4  in.  to  9  in.  x  6  in. 

The  manner  of  shoring  the  upper  part  of  a  build¬ 
ing  is  shown  in  Fig.  403.  Particulars  are  given  on 
the  illustration,  rendering  further  explanation 
unnecessary. 

Another  class  of  framing  I  have  not  yet  touched 
upon  is  that  where  a  timber  structure,  such  as  a 
tank  frame,  or  a  frame  for  a  windmill,  is  required, 
and  where  the  four  corners  lean  in  towards  the 
center ;  and  I  will  now  endeavor  to  supply  this 
deficiency:  A  structure  of  this  kind  may  be  called 
a  “truncated  pyramid,”  that  is,  a  pyramid  with 
its  top  end  cut  away  at  some  point  in  its  height 
leaving  a  platform  level  with  the  horizon,  but  of 
course  less  in  area  than  the  base.  Thus,  if  we 
suppose  a  timber  structure  having  a  base  20x20 
feet  square,  and  a  deck  or  platform  12x12  feet 
square  there  will  be  a  difference  of  8  ft.  between 


370 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


the  base  and  platform,  or  the  platform  will  be  4 
feet  less  on  every  side  than  the  base,  but  the  center 
of  the  base  area  must  be  directly  under  the  center 
point  of  the  platform  area.  If  the  structure  is  15 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


371 


feet  high,  or  any  other  height  that  may  be  deter¬ 
mined  on,  the  four  corner-posts  will  act  as  four 
hips,  and  will  be  subject  to  the  same  constructional 
rules  as  hip  rafters,  with  some  modifications  and 
additions  to  suit  changed  conditions. 

Of  the  many  methods  employed  of  obtaining 
bevels  for  oblique  cuts  on  the  feet  and  tops  of  posts 
having  two  inclinations,  (and  there  are  many),  I 


Fig.  404. 


Fig.  405. 


know  of  none  so  simple  as  the  one  I  am  about  to 
describe,  and  which  can  be  applied  in  nearly  every 
case  where  timbers  meet  at  or  on  an  angle,  as  in 
the  case  of  struts  under  purlins,  or  the  junction  of 
purlins  under  hip  or  valley  roofs.  It  is  extremely 
handy  for  finding  the  bevels  required  for  odd 
shaped  tapered  structures. 

Let  Figs.  404  and  405,  show  respectively  an 
elevation  and  a  plan  of  a  raking  timber  meeting  at 


372 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


an  angle  with  a  vertical  timber.  To  obtain  the 
bevel  shown  in  the  elevation  Fig.  404  from  the 
point  B,  set  out  a  line  square  with  the  raking  tim¬ 
ber  and  draw  the  rectangle  equal  in  width  to  AB, 
in  the  plan.  Fig.  405,  the  angle  of  the  diagonal 
of  this  rectangle  with  the  pitch  of  the  raking  tim¬ 
bers  marked  F,  is  the  bevel  of  the  bird’s  mouth 

Fig.  406. 


// 


Fig.  407. 

with  the  side.  To  obtain  the  bevel  from  the  plan 
Fig.  405,  draw  the  line  CD,  and  through  B,  draw 
CE,  equal  to  BC,  in  Fig.  404;  join  CE,  and  the 
required  angle,  which  is  the  same  as  shown  in  Fig. 
404,  is  obtained.  The  bevel  required  for  the  side 
of  the  strut  is  the  angle  made  by  the  pitch  of  the 
strut  marked  C,  in  Fig.  404,  which  needs  no  explan¬ 
ation.  Figs.  400  and  407,  show  respectively  an  ele¬ 
vation  and  a  plan  of  a  raking  timber  butting  at  an 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


373 


angle  against  a  plank,  the  section  of  the  raking 
timber  being  shown  by  the  dotted  lines  ABCD, 
in  the  same  figure ;  the  line  AD,  being  the  required 
bevel,  that  is,  the  angle  it  makes  with  a  line  parallel 
to  the  edge  of  the  raking  part  indicated  in  the  fig¬ 
ure  by  the  bevel.  To  obtain  the  bevel  from  the 
plan,  draw  the  dotted  line  CD,  Fig.  406,  at  right 
angles  to  the  upright  edge  of  the  timber,  making 
the  line  CG,  in  the  plan  Fig.  407,  equal  to  CD,  in 
Fig.  406;  draw  the  dotted  line  CD,  Fig.  407,  and 
at  right  angles  to  it  draw  X,  Y,  and  project  the 
front  G,  to  E,  making  the  distance  of  E,  from  XY, 
equal  to  the  distance  DE,  in  the  elevation,  Fig. 
406 ;  with  D  as  a  center,  and  E  as  radius,  describe 
the  dotted  arc  until  it  meets  the  line  XY,  and  con¬ 
tinue  it  down  at  right  angles  to  meet  a  line  from 
G,  drawn  parallel  to  XY,  in  H;  then  join  CHD, 
and  the  angle  obtained  is  the  bevel  required. 

Fig.  408,  and  409,  show  respectively  an  elevation 
and  a  plan  of  timbers  both  meeting  angleways,  one 
of  them  raking.  To  obtain  the  bevel  from  the 
elevation,  draw  the  line  EF,  at  right  angles  to  the 
edge  DB,  and  passing  through  A,  making  the  dis¬ 
tance  EF  equal  to  one  side  of  the  section  AB  indi¬ 
cated  by  the  dotted  lines  in  Fig.  408.  Draw  the 
line  BF  and  the  angle  this  line  makes  with  a  line 
parallel  to  the  edge  is  the  required  bevel  for  the 
top  surfaces  of  the  raking  part  which  is  indicated 
in  Fig.  408,  by  J. 


374 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


A  similar  method  is  adopted  in  obtaining  the 
lower  bevel,  marked  K,  Fig.  408.  The  bevels  are 
obtained  from  the  plan  Fig.  409,  in  a  similar  man¬ 
ner  to  those  in  Fig.  407.  Make  the  line  HG,  Fig. 
409,  equal  to  PIB  in  Fig.  408,  and  continue  it  down 
to  E  at  right  angles  to  the  side.  Join  EB  and  draw 
XY  at  right  angles;  at  right  angles  to  XY,  project 
the  point  A  to  D,  making  the  height  of  D,  above 


Fig.  408. 


» 


Fig.  409. 


XY  equal  to  the  height  of  A  above  HB  in  Fig.  408. 
With  B  as  a  center,  and  D  as  radius,  describe  the 
dotted  arc  down  to  XY,  and  continue  it  on  at  right 
angles  to  meet  the  line  AF  drawn  parallel  to  XY ; 
the  angle  EFB  is  the  bevel  for  the  two  upper  sur¬ 
faces,  and  the  same  as  the  bevel  J  in  Fig.  408.  To 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


375 


avoid  confusion,  the  bevel  for  the  lower  surfaces 
is  not  shown  in  Fig.  409,  hut  is  found  in  the  man¬ 
ner  already  explained. 

Fig.  410,  is  a  section  of  a  purlin,  showing  the 
pitch  of  the  roof  X,  and  the  level  line  Y.  Fig.  411 
is  a  plan  of  Fig.  410,  with  a  portion  of  a  hip  or 
valley  rafter,  making  an  angle  of  45  degrees  added, 
which  occurs  when  the  pitch  of  both  sides  of  the 
roof  is  the  same.  When  the  pitches  are  different, 
bevels  for  the  purlin  on  both  sides  of  the  hip  or 


Fig.  411. 


Fig.  410. 


valley  must  be  found ;  the  angle  that  it  makes  with 
the  pitch  in  the  roof  in  plan  being  the  only  angular 
datum  required.  The  method  of  finding  the  cuts  is 
as  follows :  After  drawing  the  purlin  as  shown  in 
Fig.  410,  draw  the  plan  as  in  Fig.  411,  and  through 
the  Point  A,  draw  line  FG  at  right  angles  to  the 
edge  of  the  purlin ;  make  FG  equal  in  length  to  AC, 
Fig.  410,  and  join  CG,  which  will  give  the 
bevel  for  the  wide  side  of  the  purlin.  The  bevel 
for  the  narrow  side  is  found  in  a  similar  manner 


376 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


by  drawing  DE  through  B,  making  it  equal  to  AB, 
Fig.  410,  and  joining  AE. 

Fig.  411  shows  all  the  lines  necessary  for  ob¬ 
taining  the  bevels  in  Figs.  410  and  411,  the  indices 
corresponding. 

The  methods  shown  herewith  for  obtaining  the 
bevels  and  cuts  for  raking  timbers  of  various 
kinds  are  quite  simple  compared  with  some  meth¬ 
ods  taught.  They  are  not  new,  nor  are  they  orig¬ 
inal,  as  they  have  been  in  use  many  years  among 
expert  framers  and  millriglits,  and  have  been  pub¬ 
lished,  once  before  now  at  all  events ;  the  present 
method  of  rendering,  however,  I  am  persuaded, 
will  be  found  simple  and  easily  understood. 

In  connection  with  obtaining  bevels  of  timbers 
that  are  set  with  an  inclination,  having  one  end 
resting  on  a  floor  and  the  other  and  cut  to  fit 
against  a  ceiling,  the  timber  lying  with  two  of  its 
angles  in  the  direction  of  its  inclination  and  the 
other  two  at  right  angles  to  them. 

In  that  case  the  upper  end  of  the  timber  would 
require  to  be  cut  with  the  same  bevels  as  the  lower 
end,  only  reversing  the  bevels  as  both  top  and 
bottom  bevels  are  alike. 

If  we  consider  the  corner  post  as  a  prism,  having 
four  sides  at  right  angles  to  each  other,  then  when 
we  cut  the  foot  of  it  so  obliquely  a  bevel  as  at  ABC, 
Fig.  412,  as  to  pitch  it  at  the  required  inclination, 
the  section  resulting  will  not  be  square  but  lozenge 
shaped,  as  shown  at  Fig.  412,  and  this,  of  course, 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


377 


would  not  stand  over  a  square  corner  and  have  its 
sides  to  correspond  with  the  face  of  the  sills  or 
plates,  so  make  the  post  a  prism  so  that  its  sides 
will  conform  to  the  face  of  the  sills  in  the  “back¬ 
ing”  of  the  post.  The  lines  to  shape  the  post  cor¬ 
rectly  to  meet  this  condition  may  he  obtained  in 
several  ways,  but  by  far  the  simplest  is  shown  at 
Fig.  413,  where  the  square  is  employed  to  show  the 
amount  of  overwood  to  be  removed.  Let  us  sup¬ 


pose  the  sills  to  be  halved  together  as  shown  at 
Fig.  414,  taking  no  notice  of  the  tenon  and  mortise 
which  are  shown  in  this  diagram,  and  this  will  give 
us  as  a  ground  plan  of  the  sills,  Fig.  415,  KK, 
showing  the  ends  of  the  sills  which  project  past 
the  frame.  The  point  E  in  Fig.  413  will  correspond 
with  the  point  E  Fig.  415  when  the  post  is  in  posi¬ 
tion,  and  the  points  C  and  D  will  correspond  with 
C  and  D  in  the  same  figure.  To  get  the  lines  for 
the  “backing”  draw  the  diagonal  line  AB,  on  Fig. 


378 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


413  then  place  the  heel  of  the  square  on  the  line 
AB,  near  the  long  corner,  and  adjust  the  square  on 
the  timber  so  that  the  blade  just  coincides  with  the 
corner  C,  then  mark  along  the  blade  and  tongue  of 
the  square,  continuing  to  G  and  H,  and  these  points 
will  be  the  gauge  points  sought,  showing  the  slabs 
to  be  removed — DG  and  HC. 

In  laying  off  the  bevels  at  the  foot  or  top  of  the 
post,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  outside  cor¬ 
ners  of  the  post,  AA,  Fig.  413  and  415,  is  the  work¬ 
ing  edge  from  which  the  bevels  must  first  be  taken, 
so  when  the  proper  bevel  is  obtained,  either  by  the 
square  or  by  an  ordinary  bevel,  we  must  proceed  as 
follows:  Bevel  over  from  tbe  corner  A,  first  on 
one  face  of  the  post,  then  on  the  other ;  then  turn 
the  timber  over  and  continue  the  line  across  the 
next  face  to  the  corner,  and  perform  the  same 
operation  on  the  fourth  face.  The  lines  are  now 
complete  for  cutting  the  shoulders,  but  should 
there  be  a  tenon  on  the  post  and  a  toed  shoulder  as 
shown  at  Fig.  414,  then  provision  must  be  made 
for  same,  a  matter  the  intelligent  workman  will 
find  no  difficulty  in  dealing  with. 

We  will  now  deal  with  the  bevels  of  the  girts  that 
are  usually  framed  in  between  the  posts  of  taper¬ 
ing  structures.  When  the  post  only  inclines  in  one 
direction,  the  problem  of  getting  the  bevels  is  a 
very  simple  one,  as  only  the  angle  of  inclination  is 
required  for  the  down  cuts,  the  cross  cuts  all  being 
square.  With  posts  having  two  inclinations,  how- 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


379 


ever,  tlie  case  is  more  complex  and  requires  a  dif¬ 
ferent  treatment,  as  all  the  cuts  are  bevels.  While 
it  is  always — or  nearly  so — necessary  to  “back” 
the  post  on  the  outside,  it  is  hardly  ever  necessary 
to  perform  a  similar  process  on  the  inside  corners 
,of  the  post,  therefore  provision  must  be  made  on 
the  shoulder  of  the  girt  to  meet  the  condition,  and 
this  is  done  by  cutting  the  shoulder  on  a  bevel  on 
both  down  and  cross  cuts.  Let  us  suppose  EP  in 
Pig.  416  to  be  the  down  cut,  or  the  angle  of  in¬ 
clination,  marked  on  the  girt  ABCD,  just  as  the 


Fig.  417. 


line  would  appear  in  elevation.  Then  from  E  to  G, 
on  F,  set  off  a  distance  equal  to  the  width  of  tim¬ 
ber  used  in  the  girt,  which  would  be  equal  to  DC. 
Square  down  from  the  point  G  as  shown  to  H,  con¬ 
nect  EH,  and  this  line  will  be  the  bevel  for  the  face 
end  of  the  girt.  This  line  being  obtained  carry  a 
line  across  the  top  of  the  girt  corresponding  with 
the  inside  face  of  the  corner  post,  and  to  find  this 
line  we  must  operate  as  follows :  Let  Fig.  417  be 
a  reproduction  of  Fig.  416,  then  we  lay  the  blade 
of  the  square  on  the  line  EF,  and  supposing  the 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


380 

girt  to  be  8  inches  square,  we  move  the  square 
along  until  the  point  8  on  the  tongue  coincides  with 
the  corner  of  the  timber,  when  the  heel  of  the 
square  will  define  the  point  G.  From  G  square  up, 
obtaining  the  point  K.  Square  across  from  Iv  to 
the  point  L,  which  is  on  the  inner  corner  of  the 
girt.  From  L  set  off  a  distance  back  from  the  post 
equal  to  the  thickness  of  the  slab  that  would  have 
been  removed  from  the  post,  if  backed  inside, 
which  mark  off  at  M,  and  from  this  point  draw  a 
line  to  E ;  then  ME  will  be  the  bevel  of  the  cross 
cut  over  the  girt. 

I  have  dwelled  on  this  subject  at  some  length  be¬ 
cause  of  some  of  the  difficulties  that  surround  it, 
and  which  in  these  pages  I  have  endeavored  to 
simplify  and  explain.  Tapered  structures  of  the 
kind  discussed,  whether  on  a  square  or  polygon 
plan,  are  always  troublesome  to  deal  with  unless 
the  director  of  the  work  is  well  versed  in  a  knowl¬ 
edge  of  the  principles  that  underlie  the  construc¬ 
tion  of  such  structures  and  this  means,  almost,  an 
education  in  itself.  I  have  not  touched  on  the  rules 
for  obtaining  the  lengths  and  bevels  of  diagonal 
braces  in  structures  of  this  kind,  as  I  am  persuaded 
the  sharp  workman,  who  masters  the  rules  given 
herewith,  will  be  able  to  wrestle  successfully  with 
the  diagonal  regular  tapered  work. 

Sometimes  an  irregular  tapered  frame  is  built 
to  serve  the  purpose  of  a  regular  tank  frame,  then 
some  changes  from  the  foregoing  take  place. 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


381 


If  we  build  two  frames  same  as  sliown  at  Fig. 
418,  and  stand  them  plumb,  with  their  faces  as  the 
illustration  shows,  any  distance  apart,  there  need 
be  no  trouble  in  framing  them  or  in  tieing  them 
together  with  girts,  as  the  latter  may  be  framed 


into  the  posts  square,  and  the  cuts  or  bevels  for 
the  posts  and  cross  timber  may  readily  be  obtained 
from  the  diagram  of  the  work.  Should  the  two 
bents,  however,  be  made  to  incline  towards  each 
other,  new  conditions  arise,  that  make  it  more  diffi¬ 
cult  to  get  the  joints  for  the  girts,  and  backing  for 


382 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


the  posts.  When  the  bents  draw  or  lean  into  each 
other  the  posts  have  a  double  bevel  or  pitch  making 
it  take  the  form  of  a  hip  and  as  the  posts  are 
slanted  over  to  form  the  pitch  on  the  other  side, 
we  find  that  the  face  side,  No.  2,  Fig.  419  will  draw 
in  from  the  face  of  the  sill  on  the  corner  B.  The 


Fig.  419. 


amount  the  post  will  draw  in  can  be  determined  by 
cutting  the  proper  bevels  on  bottom  of  post  and 
placing  side  No.  1  Fig.  419,  flush  with  the  bent 
sill,  then  square  out  B  to  A  on  side  No.  2.  The 
distance  AB  is  the  amount  the  post  will  draw  to¬ 
wards  the  center  as  the  bents  are  slanted  towards 
each  other.  This  distance  is  nothing  more  or  less 


HEAVY  TIMBER  FRAMING 


383 


than  the  backing  of  the  hip,  but  the  bents  being 
framed  one  side  on  the  principal  of  a  common 
rafter  and  then  leaned  towards  each  other,  form¬ 
ing  hips  at  the  corners,  cause  the  backing  to  come 
all  on  one  side  as  shown  in  Fig.  420.  Side  No.  2  is 
the  side  that  lias  to  be  backed  m  order  to  stand 
flush  with  sill,  and  the  amount  to  take  off  the  out¬ 
side  corner  is  the  distance  AB.  For  the  bevel 
across  the  top  of  girts  and  braces  on  side  No.  2, 


419,  square  across  the  post  as  AC,  set  off  AB  same 
as  is  shown  at  bottom  of  post,  and  connect  BC.  A 
bevel  set  with  stock  on  line  of  post  and  blade  on 
line  BC  will  give  the  required  bevel :  blade  gives 


384 


TIMBER  FRAMING 


cut.  Tlie  backing  is  perhaps  more  easily  explained 
by  Fig.  420.  Cut  a  section  of  post  to  required 
bevels  on  the  bottom  and  place  a  steel  square  flush 
with  side  Xo.  1  and  it  will  show  plainly  the  amount 
of  backing  to  be  taken  from  outside  corner  as 
ABC.  These  lines  will  not  do  to  set  the  bevel  by 
for  cutting  the  top  and  bottom  sides  of  girts  and 
braces  because  AC  in  Fig.  420  is  on  the  bevel  of  the 
bottom  cut  of  hip  and  therefore  is  greater  than  the 
thickness  of  the  post.  The  cut  for  girts  and  braces 
is  the  thickness  of  post  and  the  backing  applied 
as  shown  in  Fig.  419. 


INDEX  'TO  TIMBER  FRAMING 


ALPHABETICALLY  ARRANGED 

A 

Adhesion  of  nails  .  47 

A  general  system  of  floor  framing .  199 

Angular  framing  .  371 

Angular  joints  .  43 

Approximate  weight  of  roofs .  251 

Arched  centers .  217 

Arched  roof  .  275 

B 

Backing  tapering  corner  posts .  384 

Balloon  framing  .  51 

Bare-face  stub  tenon  .  196 

Barn  framing  .  188 

Barn  building  .  330 

Barrel  centering  .  234 

Bay-windows  .  133 

Beams  and  roof  trusses .  259 

Bolts  for  walls  .  260 

Bond  timber  .  75 

Bow-lattice  bridges  .  359 

Boxing  .  182 

Boxing  for  shoulders .  184 

Box  sills  .  54 


385 


386 


INDEX 


Braces  for  purlins .  193 

Bracing  .  74 

Bracing  corner .  53 

Brick  clad  wall  .  78 

Bridge  centers  .  249 

% 

Bridges  . 345 

Bridge  stresses  .  357 

Bridging  .  75 

Builders’  centers  .  218 

Building  .  93 

Built-up  beams  . . .  29 

Built-up  centers  .  224 


C 

Ceiling  joists  .  203 

Centers  .  216 

Centers  for  large  spans . • .  226 

Centers  for  small  openings .  223 

Chalk  lining  .  172 

Chimney  stack  .  89 

Circular  towers  . 105 

Classification  according  to  size  of  timber  (table) ...  17 

Classification  of  fastenings  in  carpentry .  23 

Classification  of  joints  in  carpentry .  22 

Classification  of  timbers . 10 

Coach  screws  .  49 

Collar-beam  roof  . ; .  268 

Conical  spires  .  316 

Coniferous  trees  .  10 

Corner  studs .  64 

Cornice  .  137 


INDEX 


387 


Cornices  .  144 

Couple  close  roofs  .  264 

Cross  bridging  .  76 

Cupola  roofs  .  132 

Curbed  frame  barns  .  335 

Curb  roofs  .  261 

Curved  cornices  .  147 

Curved  Mansard  roof .  269 

Curving  a  truss  bridge .  360 

Cutting  curved  rafters  .  124 

Cutting-off  marks  .  176 

Cutting  ribs  for  roofs .  123 

D 

Detail  of  centers  .  . .  229 

Detail  of  timber  frame .  197 

Details  of  elliptical  centers .  247 

Details  of  groins  . 241 

Details  of  heavy  centers . 242 

Diagrams  of  joists  and  studs .  62 

Dome  roofs  .  116 

Door  trimming  .  72 

Double  boxing  .  186 

Double  braced  .  187 

Double  flooring  . _ .  206 

Double-rake  framing .  374 

Double  shoring  .  366 

Double  stands  .  339 

Double-tapered  framing  .  383 

Dovetailed  joints  .  44 

Draw  boring .  185 


388 


INDEX 


E 


Elevation  of  frame  .  198 

Elliptical  arches  .  243 

Elliptical  centers  for  bridges .  250 

End  of  barn .  187 

Engineer’s  centers  .  219 

Exogens,  endogens,  ecrogens  .  8 


Fished  beams  and  scarfed  beams 
Fishplates  and  fished  joints  .  .  . 

Flat  centering  . 

Floor  framing  . 

Flue  trimming  . 

Foot  bridges  . 

Forms  of  roofs . 

Foundations  . 

Fox  tail  tenons  . 

Frame  barns  . 

Framed  sills  and  joists . . 

Framed  wall  . 

Framing  . 

Framing  bay  windows  . 

Framing  of  dome  roofs . 

Framing  of  ogee  roof . 

Framing  on  the  rake . 

Framing  scantling  . 

Furring  pieces  . 


. .  25 

. .  24 

..  234 

80,  208 
. .  83 

.  .  344 
.  .  252 
. .  135 
.  .  37 

..  331 
58 
. .  94 

. .  73 

..  136 
..  117 
.  .  120 
. .  371 


36 


INDEX 


389 


G 

Gains  and  scarfs  .  30 

Gambrel  roofs .  261 

General  framing  .  77 

General  trimming  .  87 

Getting  curves  . .  .  237 

Girders  .  88 

Gothic  spire  .  321 

Grand  stands — for  public  occasions . 340 

Groins  .  236 

Gutters  .  141 


H 

Halving  joints  .  52 

Hammer-beam  roof  (for  country  church") .  304 

Hammer-beam  roofs  (ornamented) .  299 

Hammer-beam  roofs  (plain)  .  297 

Haunched  tenons  .  40 

Heavy  timber  bridges  ...  .  .  351 

Hip  rafters  .  254 

Hip  roofs  .  254 

Hip  spans  .  254 

House  plans  .  90 

House  walls  .  91 

Howe  framed  roofs  .  286 

I 

Introductory  .  7 

Introduction  to  Part  II .  151 

Iron  angles  .  209 

Is  heavy  timber  framing  a  lost  art? .  152 


390 


INDEX 


J 

Jack-rafters  .  258 

Joints,  in  woodwork  .  7 

Joist  hangers  . * .  85 

K 

Keyed  tusk  tenon  .  212 

Keyed-up  timbers .  210 

King  post  roof  .  272 

L 

Laminated  roof  .  275 

Lantern  roof  .  118 

Large  centers  .  226 

Large  elliptical  center  .  245 

Lattice  bridges  .  355 

Lattice  roofs  .  312 

Laying  out  marks  .  178 

Laying  out  round  timbers .  161 

Lean-to  roofs  .  263 

Lengthening  piles  .  26 . 

Lining-up  timber .  170 

List  of  tools  .  154 

Long  lattice  bridges  .  358 

Long  span  bridges  .  353 

Look-outs  .  140 


INDEX  391 

M 

Making  mortices  and  tenons .  167 

Mansard  roofs  . 127,  262 

Mansard  self-supporting  roofs .  307 

Method  of  carving  curbed  roofs .  104 

Method  of  framing  joists .  60 

Method  of  framing  ogee  roofs .  101 

Method  of  putting  in  sill .  61 

Molded  roof  .  112 

Mixed  framing,  iron  and  timber .  200 

N 

Nails  .  46 

Non-coniferous  trees  .  10 

O 

« 

Octagon  spires  and  steeples .  316 

Odd  corner  .  65 

Ogee  roof  .  99 

One-hundred  feet  span — truss  bridges .  355 

Ornamental  cornices  .  150 

P 

Plan  of  tower  roof  .  109 

Platform  and  raking  shores . i .  370 

Preface  .  1 


392 


INDEX 


Projecting  cornices  .  143 

Public  stands  .  338 

Purlin  plates .  191 

Purlins  .  102 


Q 

8 

275 
255 
255 


Quality  of  trees  . 
Queen  post  roofs  , 

Queen  posts . 

Queen  post  trusses 


Rafter  ends .  142 

Raking  curves  .  126 

Raking  shores .  364 

Road  bridges .  352 

Roof  coverings  .  251 

Roof  framing .  89 

Roofs  .  251 

Roof  trusses  .  252 

Rubbeted  joints  .  43 

Rule  for  cutting  braces  .  195 

Rules  for  roofs .  280 


S 


Scarfed  beams  .  25 

Scarf  marks  .  175 

Scissors  roof .  131 

Seasoning  of  timber  .  14 


INDEX 


393 


Section  dome  roof  .  121 

Section  of  centers  .  227 

Section  of  dormer  window .  95 

Section  of  wall  . 57?  68 

Section  ogee  roof .  120 

Sections — Mansard  roofs  .  128 

Sections  of  corners  .  66 

Sections  of  timber .  13 

Segments  for  centers .  225 

Self-supporting  roofs  .  129 

Shoring  and  needling .  363 

Short  span  bridges .  347 

Shrinkage  .  11 

Sills — boxed  .  54 

Silver  grain  .  9 

Single  rafter  roof .  263 

Skating  rink  roofs .  310 

Solid  sills  .  55 

Spire  .  97 

Squaring  over  .  177 

Stair-headers  . 81 

Stair  trimming .  82 

Steel  beams  . 207 

Strains  on  roofs .  271 

Strength  of  timber .  205 

Stub  tenon  .  196 

Studding  .  76 

Suitable  pitches  .  251 

Supported  arched  roofs  .  289 

Suspended  roofs .  278 


394 


INDEX 


T 

Table  for  nails  and  screws .  47 

Taking  timber  out  of  wind .  163 

Tapered  framing  .  382 

Templet  framing  .  180 

Temporary  grandstands  .  343 

Tenoned  joists  .  59 

Tenons  .  171 

The  various  strains  on  timber .  21 

Timbered  roofs .  107 

Timbering  floors  .  202 

Timber  towers  .  329 

Toggle  joints  .  33 

Towers  .  97 

Tredgold  on  joint  fastenings .  19 

Trimming  windows  .  71 

Trussed  bridges  .  348 

Trussed  roofs  . 129,  282 

Tusk  tenons .  34 

U 

Use  of  glue  .  50 

y 

Valiev  boards  . 258 

%j 

Valley  rafters  .  258 

Various  scarfs  .  27 


INDEX  395 

Vault  centering  .  234 

Vertical  joints  . : .  28 

V-roofs  .  261 

W 

Wall  plates  .  259 

Wall  section  .  68 

Wedges  for  centers .  222 

Well-holes  .  82 

Winding  sticks .  164 

Window  trimming .  70 

Witness  marks  . * .  173 

Wooden  spires,  turrets  and  towers .  314 

Working  square  timber .  162 


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authorship  of  Fred  T.  Hodgson,  and  who  we  feel  sure  have  been  benefited 
by  his  excellent  treatises  on  many  Carpentry  and  Building  subjects,  we 
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in  every  respect  and  of  a  purely  self-educational  character,  expressly  issued 
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PRACTICAL  USES  OF  THE  STEEL  SQUARE,  two  volumes,  over  500 
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BUILDERS’  ARCHITECTURAL  DRAWING  SELF-TAUGHT,  over  350 
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MODERN  ESTIMATOR  AND  CONTRACTORS’  GUIDE,  for  pricing  build 
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pages,  including  perspective  views  and  floor  plans  of  50  medium-priced 
houses.  Cloth,  price  $1.00.  Half  leather,  price  $1.50. 

STONEMASONS’  AND  BRICKLAYERS’  GUIDE,  over  200  pages.  Cloth, 
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PRACTICAL  WOOD  CARVING,  over  200  pages.  Cloth,  price  $1.50.  Hall 

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Practical  Stonemasonry  Seif -Taught 


FOR  HOME  STUDY 


BY  FRED  T.  HODGSON  - 

This  book  deals  with  the  stone 
mason’s  wrork  altogether.  Methods 
of  building  walls  in  rustic  rubble, 
ashler  square,  uncovered,  random 
coursed,  irregular  corners,  snecked 
and  square  rubble,  picked  poly¬ 
gonal  ragwork,  and  other  styles  of 
work  are  explained  and  illustrated. 
Finished  stones  such  as  window 
sills,  wrindow  heads,  coping,  arch 
stones,  key  stones,  and  other  dress¬ 
ings  are  described  and  illustrated. 
Stone  arches  and  joists  are  des¬ 
cribed  and  illustrated,  with  ample 
instructions  for  working  them. 

The  book  contains  180  illustra¬ 
tions  and  diagrams,  and  is  a  complete  cyclopedia  of  prac¬ 
tical  instructions  in  masonry,  and  must  prove  of  inestimable 
value  to  the  operative  mason. 


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4 


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Easy  Steps  to  Architecture 

FOR  HOME  STUDY 


By  FRED  T.  HODGSON 


“The  Easy  Lessons  in  Arch¬ 
itecture,”  embodied  in  the  work 
have  been  used  for  many  years 
as  a  sort  of  catechism  of  the 
art,  while  the  part  on  architec¬ 
tural  styles  is  about  the  most 
complete  ever  published  in  so 
small  a  space.  The  latter  is 
adapted  from  the  German  of 
Rosengarten. 

All  readers  of  this  book  will  be 
satisfied  with  its  contents,  and 
every  workman  who  peruses 
it  with  a  view  of  enlarging  his 
knowledge  on  architecture,  will 
be  satisfied  that  he  knows  much  more  when  he  lays 
down  the  book,  than  he  did  before  he  took  it  up. 

12mo.,  Cloth,  350  Pages,  230  Illustrations  -  Price,  $1.50 


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QHft  Huiliirr  an b 
Glmtfrartor’s  QktiU' 


TO  CORRECT  MEASUREMENTS  of  areas  and 

cubic  contents  in  all  matters  relating  to  buildings  of  any 
kind.  Illustrated  with  numerous  diagrams,  sketches  and 
examples  showing  how  various  and  intricate  measure¬ 
ments  should  be  taken  ::  ::  ::  ::  ::  ::  ::  ::  :: 

By  Fred  T.  Hodgson,  Architect,  and  W.  M.  Brown,  C.E.  and  Quantity  Surveyor 


BUILDER  AND 
CONIRAf  TOR'S  (iLIIDt 


/jTHIS  is  a  real  practical  book, 
^  showing  how  all  kinds  of 
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secure  correct  results.  This 
work  in  no  way  conflicts  with 
any  work  on  estimating  as  it 
does  not  give  prices,  neither 
does  it  attempt  to  deal  with 
questions  of  labor  or  estimate 
how  much  the  execution  of  cer¬ 
tain  works  will  cost.  It  simply 
deals  with  the  questions  of 
areas  and  cubic  contents  of  any 
given  work  and  shows  how 
their  areas  and  contents  may 
readily  be  obtained,  and  fur¬ 
nishes  for  the  regular  estimator 
the  data  upon  which  he  can 
base  his  prices.  In  fact,  the 
work  is  a  great  aid  and  assist¬ 
ant  to  the  regular  estimator 
and  of  inestimable  value  to  the 
general  builder  and  contractor. 


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The  Practical  Cabinet  Maker 
and  Furniture  Designer 

By  Fred  T.  Hodgson,  F.  A.  I.  C. 


AN  ENTIRELY  NEW  BOOK  on  cabinet  making  in 
all  its  phases,  and  is  intended  to  aid  young 
workmen  in  making  all  kinds  of  furniture,  from  the 
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joining  of  woodwork,  glueing 
and  the  using  of  glues  gener¬ 
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work.  It  describes  the  various 
woods  suitable  for  cabinet  work 
and  the  best  methods  of  working 
them.  Various  styles  of  work 
are  shown  —  French,  German, 
|  Queen  Anne,  Chippendale, 
|  Shereton,  Hepplewhite, Colonial, 
Adams,  Louis  XVI,  Louis 
XVII,  Louis  Seize,  Boule  work  and  other  st}des — thus 
enabling  the  student  to  recognize  the  style  of  a  piece  of 
furniture  on  sight. 

The  book  is  well  illustrated  with  several  hundred 
illustrations. 


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Practical  Bricklaying  Self-Taught 


FOR  HOME  STUDY 


By  FRED  T.  HODGSON  - 

This  book  is  devoted  altogether 
to  brick  work  of  all  kinds,  and  in¬ 
cludes  an  explanation  of  the  var¬ 
ious  terms  employed  in  the  trade, 
with  illustrations  and  definitions 
showing  what  the  terms  really 
mean. 

Damp  courses  are  dealt  with  in 
a  separate  chapter  in  which  the 
various  methods  of  constructing 
damp  courses  are  fully  illustrated, 
described  and  explained.  Various 
methods  of  forming  brick  pilas¬ 
ters,  columns,  quoins  and  pands 
are  explained,  illustrated  and  des¬ 
cribed.  Joints  in  brick  work  are 
illustrated,  described  and  explained  in  a  separate  chapter, 
in  which  the  kinds  of  mortar  to  employ  for  various  works 
are  defined.  Chimney  breasts,  flues,  stacks,  fire-places 
and  chimneys,  of  all  kinds  are  described  and  illustrated. 

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Concretes,  Cements, 

Mortars, 
Plasters 

a.r\d 

Stuccos 

How  to  Make  and 
How  to  Use  Them 

Fred  T.  Hodgson 

Architect 

THIS  is  another  of  Mr.  Hodgson’s  practical  works  that  appeals 
directly  to  the  workman  whose  business  it  is  to  make  and  applj 
the  materials  named  in  the  title.  As  far  as  it  has  been  possible 
to  avoid  chemical  descriptions  of  limes,  cements  and  other  materials, 
and  theories  of  no  value  to  the  workman,  such  has  been  done,  and 
nothing  has  been  admitted  into  the  pages  of  the  work  that  do^s  not 
possess  a  truly  practical  character. 

Concretes  and  cements  have  received  special  attention,  and  the 
latest  methods  of  making  and  using  cement  building  blocks,  laying 
cement  sidewalks,  putting  in  concrete  foundations,  making  cement 
casts  and  ornaments,  are  discussed  at  length.  Plastering  and  stucco 
work  receive  a  fair  share  of  consideration  and  the  best  methods  of 
making  and  using  are  described  in  the  usual  simple  manner  so 
characteristic  of  Mr.  Hodgson’s  style.  The  book  contains  a  large 
number  of  illustrations  of  tools,  appliances  and.  methods  employed 
in  making  and  applying  concretes,  cements,  mortars,  plasters  and 
stucco,  which  will  greatly  assist  in  making  it  easy  for  the  student  to 
follow  and  understand  the  text 
520  pages  fully  illustrated. 

12  Mo.  Cloth , . Price,  $1.50 

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By  WM.  DOMJiLDSOX 


A  MODERN  treatise  on  Hot  Water,  Steam  and  Furnace 
Heating,  and  Steam  and  Gas  Fitting,  which  is  in¬ 
tended  for  the  use  and  information  of  the  owners  of  build¬ 
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them.  It  gives  full  and  concise  information  with  regard 
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Plant  and  Specifications.  Plans  and  Elevations  of  Steam 
and  Hot  Water  Heating  Plants  are  shown  and  all  other  sub¬ 
jects  in  the  book  are  fully  illustrated. 

256  pages ,  121  illustrations,  12 mo,  cloth,  price,  $1.50 

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Practical 

Up-to-Date 


George  B.  Clow 

200 

Illustrations 


f 


A  PRACTICA.L  up-to-date  work  on  Sanitary  Plumbing,  com- 
prising  useful  information  on  the  wiping  and  soldering  of 
lead  pipe  joints  and  the  installation  of  hot  and  cold  water  and 
drainage  systems  into  modern  residences.  Including  the 
gravity  tank  supply  and  cylinder  and  tank  system  of  water 
heating  and  the  pressure  cylinder  system  of  water  heating. 
Connections  for  bath  tub.  Connections  for  water  closet. 
Connections  for  laundi  y  tubs.  Connections  for  wash-bowl  or 
lavatory.  A  modern  bath  room.  Bath  tubs.  Lavatories. 
Closets.  Urinals.  Laundry  tubs.  Shower  baths.  Toilet 
room  in  office  buildings.  Sinks.  Faucets.  Bibb-cocks.  Soil- 
pipe  fittings.  Drainage  fittings.  Plumber’s  tool  kit,  etc.,  etc. 
iSJLO  pages, 

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PRACTICAL  BUNGALOWS 
AND  COTTAGES  FOR 
TOWN  AND  COUNTRY 


THIS  BOOK  CONTAINS  PERSPECTIVE 
DRAWINGS  AND  FLOOR  PLANS 


Of  one  hundred  and  fifty  low  and  medium  priced 
houses  ranging  from  four  hundred  to  four  thou¬ 
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of  bungalows  for  summer  and  country  homes, 
furnishing  the  prospective  builder  with  m  any  new 
and  up-to-date  ideas  and  suggestions  in  modern 

architecture . 

The  houses  advertised  in  this  book  are  entirely 
different  in  style  from  those  shown  in  Hodgson’s 
Low  Cost  Homes . 

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PRICE,  POSTFAID  $1.00 


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HODGSON’S 

Low  Cost  American  Homes 

Arranged  and  Edited  by 
FRED  T*  HODGSON 
Architect 

This  book  contains  perspective  vleWf 
and  floor  plans  of  one  hundred  housesj 
churches,  school  houses  and  barns,  and  is 
without  a  doubt  the  most  practical  work 
ever  issued.  The  plans  shown  have  been 
built  from,  and  many  of  them  duplicated 
many  times  over.  All  are  practical, 
the  creation  of  the  well-known  author, 
including  many  other  architects  through¬ 
out  the  United  States  and  Canada,  and 
are  alike  valuable  to  builders  and  any  one 
who  has  in  view  the  erection  of  a  house, 
etc.  The  plans  are  susceptible  of  slight 
changes  that  will  adapt  them  to  any  taste. 
The  carpenter,  remote  from  the  city, 
needs  just,  such  a  book  to  refer  to,  or  to 
exhibit  to  his  customer  so  that  the  latter 
can  give  his  orders  in  an  intelligible 
manner.  The  much  desired  economy  on 
these  structures  is  not,  however,  obtained 
at  the  expense  of  beauty— every  one  of  the 
designs,  even  the  very  cheapest,  is  pleas¬ 
ing  to  the  eye.  Following  the  ideas  laid 
down,  the  builder  is  sure  to  obtain  a  pretty  result.  Another  result  aimed 
at  by  Mr.  Hodgson  is  the  convenience  of  internal  arrangements.  Many 
a  good  house  has  been  spoiled  by  having  the  much  needed  closet  room 
omitted.  All  this  has  been  carefully  studied  by  the  practical  and 
experienced  architects  who  have  compiled  this  book,  so  the  owner  oi 
working  builder  who  selects  a  design  from  this  work  will  be  sure  to 
secure  all  the  elegance,  convenience  and  economy  possible  in  the  erection 
of  the  house.  The  publishers  furnish  perfect  blue  prints,  including  a 
book  of  specifications  at  the  printed  prices  shown  in  the  book.  Th$ 
average  price  of  blue  prints  and  specifications  is  $5.00  per  set,  and  they 
are  just  the  same  as  plans  which,  if  prepared  especially  by  an  architect, 
would  cost  from  $50.00  to  $75.00. 

The  book  contains  over  350  pages,  nearly  325  illustration 
printed  on  a  superior  quality  of  machine  finished 
paper,  durably  bound  in  English  cloth  with 
unique  design 


Price  . $1.00 

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CHICAGO,  ILL. 


THE  AUTOMOBILE  HAND-BOOK 

OVER  200,000  SOLD 

By  ELLIOTT  BROOKES,  Assissted  by  Other  Well-Known  Experts 

Revised  and  Enlarged  New  Edition— The  largest  and  most  practical 
work  published.  Used  by  all  up-to-date  automobile  schools  as 
their  every  day  text- book.  over  720  pages  and 

over  329  illustrations.  Full  Leather  Limp,  Round 
Corners,  Red  Edges.  Price,  $2.00. 

At  the  present  time  nearly  all  automobile 
troubles  or  breakdowns  may,  in  almost 
every  case,  be  traced  to  the  lack  of  knowl¬ 
edge  cr  carelessness  of  the  owner  or  opera¬ 
tor  of  the  car,  rather  than  to  the  car  itself. 

The  automobile  hand  book  is  a  work  of 
p  actical  information  for  the  use  of  owners, 
operators  and  automobile  mechanics,  giv¬ 
ing  full  and  concise  information  on  all 
qu<  stions  relating  to  the  construction,  care 
and  opera:  on  of  gasoline  and  electric  auto¬ 
mobiles.  including  road  troubles,  motor 
troubles,  -rbureter  troubles,  ignition 
troubles,  battery  troubles,  clutch  troubles, 
starting  troubles.  With  numerous  tables, 
useful  rules  and  formulas,  wiring  diagrams 
and  over329illustrations. 

Special  efforts  have  been  put  forth  to 
treat  the  subjects  of  ignition,  and  igni¬ 
tion  devices,  in  a  manner  befitting  their 
importance.  A  large  section  has  been 
devoted  to  t  ese  subjects,  including  bat¬ 
teries,  primary  and  secondary,  magnetos, 
carburators,  spark  plugs,  and  in  fact  all  devices  used  in  connection  with 
the  production  of  the  spark.  Power  ti  ansmissio  is  thoroughly  discussed, 
and  the  various  systems  of  transmitting  the  power  from  the  motor  to  the 
driving  axle  are  analyzed  and  compared. 

The  perusal  of  this  work  for  a  few  minutes  when  troubles  occur,  will 
often  not  only  save  time,  money,  and  worry,  but  give  greater  confidence 
in  the  car,  with  regard  to  its  going  qualities  on  the  road,  when  properly 
and  intelligently  cared  for. 

A  WORD  TO  THE  WISE 

The  time  is  at  hand  when  any  person  caring  for  and  operating  any 
kind  of  self-propelling  vehicle  in  a  public  or  private  capacity,  will  have  to 
undergo  a  rigid  examination  before  a  state  board  of  examiners  and  secure 
a  license  before  they  can  collect  their  salary  or  get  employment. 

Already  New  York  State  has  enacted  such  c.  law  and  before  long,  with 
a  positive  certainty  every  state  in  the  Union  will  pa*s  such  an  ordinance 
for  the  protection  of  life  and  property. 

Remember  this  is  a  brand  new  book  from  cover  to  cover,  just  from 
the  press —  New  Edition — and  must  not  be  confounded  with  any  former 
editions  of  this  popular  work. 

Sent  prepaid  to  any  address  upon  receipt  of  price 

FREDERICK  J.  DRAKE  &  CO.,  Publishers 

1325  Michigan  Avenue.  »  *  *  CHICAGO,  U.  S.  A. 


The  Practical  Gas  & 

Oil  Engine  HAND  -  BOOK 

A  MANUAL  of  useful  in- 
•***  formation  o  n  the  care, 
maintenance  and  repair  of  Gas 
and  Oil  Engines. 

This  work  gives  full  and 
clear  instructions  on  all  points 
relating  to  the  care,  mainte¬ 
nance  and  repair  of  Stationary, 
Portable  and  Marine,  Gas  and 
Oil  Engines,  including  How  to 
Start,  How  to  Stop,  How  to  Ad¬ 
just,  How  to  Repair,  How  to 
Test. 

Pocket  size,  4x6 
232  pages.  With  numerous 
rules  and  formulas  and  dia¬ 
grams,  and  over  70  illustrations 
by  L.  Elliott  Brookes,  au¬ 
thor  of  the  “Construction  of  a 
Gasoline  Motor,”  and  the  “Au¬ 
tomobile  Hand-Book.” 

This  book  has  been  written 
with  the  intention  of  furnishing 
practical  information  regarding 
gas,  gasoline  and  kerosene  engines,  for  the  use  of  owners,  operators  and 
others  who  may  be  interested  in  their  construction,  operation  and  man¬ 
agement. 

In  treating  the  various  subjects  it  has  been  the  endeavor  to  avoid  all 
technical  matter  as  far  as  possible,  and  to  present  the  information  given 
in  a  clear  and  practical  maimer. 

|6mo.  Popular  edition— Cloth.  Price . $1.00 

Edition  de  Luxe— Full  Leather  Limp.  Price . .  1.59 


Sent  Postpaid  to  any  Address  in  the  World  upon  Receipt  of  Price 

FREDERICK  J.  DRAKE  &  CO. 

PUBLISHERS 


FREDERICK  J.  DRAKE  &  CO.’S 
PRACTICAL  MECHANICAL  BOOKS 

FOR 

HOME  STUDY 

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Air  Brake  Practice,  Modern — Dukesmith. 

Illustrated  .  1.50  . . . 

Air  Brake,  Complete  Examinations,  West- 

inghouse  and  New  York . 2.00 

Air  Brake,  Westinghouse  System .  2.00  ... 

Air  Brake,  New  York  System .  2.00  ... 

American  Homes,  Low  Cost — Hodgson.  Il¬ 
lustrated  .  1.00  . . . 

Architectural  Drawing,  Self  -  Taught  — 

Hodgson.  Illustrated  .  2.00  ... 

Architecture,  Easy  Steps  to — Hodgson.  Il¬ 
lustrated  .  1.50  ... 

Architecture,  Five  Orders — Hodgson.  Il¬ 
lustrated  .  1.00  ... 

Armature  and  Magnet  Winding — Horst- 

mann  &  Tousley . 1.50 

Artist,  The  Amateur — Delamotte .  1.00  ... 

Automobile  Hand  Book — Brookes.  Illus¬ 
trated  .  2.00 

Automobile,  The  Mechanician’s  Catechism 

— Swingle .  1.25 

Blacksmithing,  Modern — Holmstrom.  Il¬ 
lustrated  .  1.00  ... 

Boat  Building,  for  Amateurs — Nelson.  Il¬ 
lustrated  .  1.00  ... 

Bricklayers’  and  Masons’  Assistant,  The 

20th  Century — Hodgson.  Illustrated..  1.50  ... 

Bricklaying,  Practical,  Self  -  Taught  — 

Hodgson.  Illustrated  .  1.00  ... 

Bungalows  and  Low  Priced  Cottages — 

Hodgson  .  1.00  ... 

Calculation  of  Horse  Power  Made  Easy — 

Brookes.  Illustrated . 75  ... 

Carpentry,  Modern.  Vol.  I — Hodgson.  Il¬ 
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Carpentry,  Modern.  Vol.  II — Hodgson. 

Illustrated  .  1.00  ... 

Chemistry,  Elementary,  Self  -  Taught — 

Roscoe.  Illustrated  .  1.00  ... 

Concretes,  Cements,  Plasters,  etc. — Hodg¬ 
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Correct  Measurements,  Builders’  and  Con¬ 
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Catechism,  Swingle’s  Steam,  Gas  and 

Electrical  Engineering . 1.50 

Cabinet  Maker,  The  Practical,  and  Fur¬ 
niture  Designer — Hodgson.  Illustrated  2.00  ... 

Dynamo  Tending  for  Engineers — Horst- 

mann  &  Tousley.  Illustrated .  1.50  . 

Dynamo — Electric  Machines — Swingle.  Il¬ 
lustrated  .  1.50  ... 

Electric  Railway  Troubles  and  How  To 

Find  Them — Lowe  .  1-50  ... 

Electric  Power  Stations — Swingle  .  2.50  .  .  . 

Electrical  Construction,  Modern.  Illus¬ 
trated  .  1-50 

Electrical  Dictionary,  Handy,  Weber . 25  .50 

Electrical  Wiring  and  Construction  Ta¬ 
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Electricity,  Easy  Experiments  in — Dick* 

Inson.  Illustrated  .  l.tro  . .  • 


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Electricity  Made  Simple — Haskins.  Illus¬ 
trated  .  1.00  ... 

Electric  Railroading — Aylmer-Small.  Il¬ 
lustrated  .  3.50 

Electro  -  Plating  Hand  Book — Weston. 

Illustrated  .  1.00  1.50 

Elementary  Electricity,  Up  To  Date — 

Aylmer-Small  .  1.25  .  . . 

Estimator,  Modern,  for  Builders  and 

Architects — Hodgson  .  1.50  ... 

Examination  Questions  and  Answers  for 
Locomotive  Firemen — Wallace.  Illus¬ 
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Examination  Questions  and  Answers  for 
Marine  and  Stationary  Engineers — 

Swingle.  Illustrated  . 1.50 

Elevators,  Hydraulic  and  Electric — Swin¬ 
gle.  Illustrated  .  1.00  . . . 

Electrician’s  Operating  and  Testing 
Manual — Horstmann  &  Tousley.  Illus¬ 
trated  . 1.50 

Farm  Engines  and  How  to  Run  Them — 

Stephenson.  Illustrated  .  1.00  ... 

Furniture  Making,  Home — Raeth.  Illus¬ 
trated  . 60  ... 

Gas  and  Oil  Engine  Hand  Book — 

Brookes.  Illustrated  .  1.00  1.50 

Hand  Book  for  Engineers  and  Electri¬ 
cians — Swingle.  Illustrated.  Pocket 

Book  Style  . 3.00 

Hardwood  Finishing,  Up-to-date — Hodg¬ 
son.  Illustrated  .  1.00  ... 

Horse  Shoeing,  Correct — Holmstrom.  Il¬ 
lustrated  .  1.00  ... 

Hot  Water  Heating,  Steam  and  Gas  Fit¬ 
ting — Donaldson.  Illustrated  .  1.50  ... 

Heating  and  Lighting  Railway  Passen¬ 
ger  Cars — Prior  .  1.25  ... 

Locomotive  Breakdowns,  with  Questions 

and  Answers — Wallace.  Illustrated . 1.50 

Locomotive  Fireman’s  Boiler  Instructor — 

Swingle  . 1.50 

Locomotive  Engineering — Swingle.  Illus¬ 
trated.  Pocket  Book  Style . 3.00 

Machine  Shop  Practice — Brookes.  Illus¬ 
trated  .  2.00  ... 

Mechanical  Drawing  and  Machine  Design 

— Westinghouse.  Illustrated .  2.00  ... 

Motorman,  How  to  Become  a  Successful. 

Aylmer-Small.  Illustrated  . 1.50 

Motorman’s  Practical  Air  Brake  Instruc¬ 
tor — Denehie  .  1.50 

Modern  Electric  Illumination,  Theory 
and  Practice — Horstmann  &  Tousley. 

Illustrated  .  2.00 

Millwright’s  Practical  Hand  Book — Swin¬ 
gle.  Illustrated  .  ^.00  ... 

Modern  American  Telephony  In  All  Its 

Branches — Smith.  Illustrated . -  4  0* 


Price. 

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Operation  of  Trains  and  Station  Work — 

Prior.  Illustrated  . 1.50 

Painting,  Cyclopedia  of — Maire.  Illus¬ 
trated  .  1.50  ... 

Pattern  Making  and  Foundry  Practice — 

Hand.  Illustrated  . 1.50 

Picture  Making  for  Pleasure  and  Profit — 

Baldwin.  Illustrated  .  1.25  ... 

Plumbing,  Practical,  Up-to-Date — Clow. 

Illustrated  .  1.50  . .  . 

Railway  Roadbed  and  Track,  Construc¬ 
tion  and  Maintenance  of — Prior.  Illus¬ 
trated  .  2.00 

Railway  Shop  Up-to-Date — Haig.  Illus¬ 
trated  .  2.00  ... 

Sheet  Metal  Workers’  Instructor — Rose. 

Illustrated  .  2.00  ... 

Signist’s  Book  of  Modern  Alphabets — Del- 

amotte  .  1.50  ... 

Sign  Painting,  The  Art  of — Atkinson...  3.00  ... 

Stair  Building  and  Hand  Railing — Hodg¬ 
son.  Illustrated  .  1.00  ... 

Steam  Boilers — Swingle.  Illustrated . 1.50 

Steel  Square,  A  Key  to — Woods .  1.50  ... 

Steel  Square,  Vol.  I — Hodgson.  Illus¬ 
trated  .  1.00  ... 

Steel  Square,  Vol.  II — Hodgson.  Illus¬ 
trated  .  1.00  . . . 

Steel  Square,  A  B  C — Hodgson . 50  ... 

Steel  Construction,  Practical — Hodgson. 

Illustrated  . 50  ... 

Storage  Batteries — Niblett  . 50  ... 

Sho*  Cards,  A  Show  At — Atkinson  and 

Atkinson  .  3.00  ... 

Stonemasonry,  Practical,  Self-Taught — 

Hodgson.  Illustrated  .  1.00  ... 

Telegraphy  Saif-Taught — Edison.  Illus¬ 
trated  . 1.00  . . . 

Telephone  Hand-Book—  Illus¬ 
trated  .  1.00  ... 

Timber  Framing,  Light  and  Heavy — 

Hodgson  .  2.00  ... 

Toolsmith  and  Steel  Worker — Holford. 

Illustrated  .  1.50  ... 

Turbine,  The  Steam — Swingle.  Illustrated  1.00  ... 

Walschaert  Valve  Gear  Breakdowns  and 
How  to  Adjust  Them — Swingle.  Illus¬ 
trated  .  1.00  . . . 

Wiring  Diagrams,  Modern — Horstmann 

&  Tousley.  Illustrated  . 1.50 

Wireless  Telegraphy  and  Telephony — 

V.  H.  Laughter .  1.00  ... 

Wood  Carving,  Practical — Hodgson.  Illus¬ 
trated  .  1.50  ... 

THE  RED  BOOK  SERIES  OF  TRADE  SCHOOL 

MANUALS 
By  F.  Maire 

16  mo..  Cloth,  Illustrated.  Price,  each,  $0.60 

Exterior  Painting,  Wood,  Iron  and  Brick. 

Interior  Painting,  Water  and  Oil  Colors. 

Colors,  What  They  Are  and  What  to  Expect 

from  Them. 

Graining  and  Marbling. 

Carriage  Painting. 

The  Wood  Finisher. 


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